Occupational Therapy BS/MS
Program Description
The BS/MS program in occupational therapy is a five-year entry-level professional program. The program is structured to prepare students for personal and professional development; it is flexible enough to meet individual needs and interests while ensuring that graduates are competent to pass the national certification examination and state licensure requirements and enter the profession. For further information on the policies and procedures that pertain to pre-majors and students in the first or second year, refer to the Pre-Professional Student Handbook.
Information for Current Students
The Profession of Occupational Therapy
The occupational therapy program at the University at Buffalo is based on the philosophical belief that people have a vital need for occupation. Occupation is defined as the ways in which people occupy their time and includes such activities as self-care, play, work, and leisure. One engages in occupation for three primary reasons: (1) to acquire the skills and behaviors necessary for ensuring one's survival, (2) to achieve a sense of quality in one's life, and (3) to contribute to the progress and well-being of society by being a productive member of that society.
Based on the assumption that it is within the context of roles that people engage in occupation, the concept of occupational role emerged to account for those major life roles that occupy one's time. These major life roles or occupational roles have a developmental perspective and change over the course of a lifetime. They include the roles of preschooler, student, worker and/or homemaker, and retiree. Each role has its associated age-appropriate and role-appropriate tasks that influence the nature of one's occupations. What evolves in responding to these tasks is called occupational behavior. Occupational competence is another concept, which implies an individual's ability to engage in a fulfilling lifestyle consistent with his or her goals and values.
When individuals are threatened by deprivation, disease, illness, or injury, occupational therapy intervenes to protect and/or restore (1) the individual's physical, psychological, and social capacities to achieve occupational competence; and (2) the skills and habits of effective role performance. Occupational therapy is committed to providing services to the "whole person"; thus, occupational therapy is holistic in its orientation to health care.
Occupational therapists work in all types of private nonprofit and public settings, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and community health agencies. There are good opportunities for employment and advancement within the profession, and salaries are on par with other health professions that require a university degree.
In the March 17, 2007 issue of the US News and World Report, occupational therapy was listed as one of the "best careers for 2007" with an excellent job market outlook.
Further information on the the occupational therapy profession may also be found at the career websites :
http://healthcare.monster.com/therapy/articles/emergingot/ or http://www.aota.org/featured/area6/index.asp
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