威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校

The M.S. program is a two-year professional program designed to prepare students for practice. It is accredited by the Accreditation Council on Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). At the master's level, supervised fieldwork experiences with children and adults are provided in a variety of settings. This program meets the requirements for OTR certification set by the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT).

Overview of Curriculum Design

Our MS-OT curriculum is sequenced for the study of occupational behavior across the life span, therapeutic interventions to support occupational participation, professional skills, values and behaviors, and models of research and evidence-based practice.

There are four strands; students take at least one course from each strand each of the four semesters of the curriculum:

• Foundational Knowledge
• Evidence-based Practice
• Critical Reasoning and Clinical Decision Making

Professional Skills

These strands all lead the student to apply theory, core concepts and ethics to practice during fieldwork and ultimately to professional practice. Sixteen graduate level courses make up the course sequence.

The courses focus on general knowledge about occupational development, performance and disruptions, professional values and behaviors and the process of practice, and research in occupational therapy practice. The professional courses progress to more specific detail about the relationship of occupational dysfunction to social participation. Throughout the curriculum, students learn about devising and implementing interventions that relate to deficits in occupational participation amongst individuals of all ages and from a broad range of cultural, ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic diversity.

The program is designed to prepare professional, well-qualified occupational therapists that collaborate with individuals, families, groups, organizations and systems to enable participation in meaningful and culturally relevant occupations to improve health and quality of life.

The program begins with basic biological science courses early in the curriculum (human anatomy and functional neuroanatomy) (Foundation Knowledge thread) with later professional courses focused on diseases and conditions that lead to occupational dysfunction. Students take a series of courses on professional practice (Professional Skills thread). Professional Skills I introduce them to professional standards and promote the acquisition of professional behaviors and values necessary for the therapeutic process. Next, in Professional Skills II, students develop interpersonal and communication skills and experience in group dynamics. In Professional Skills III, they develop skills for management and supervision in health, education and social systems. In Professional Skills IV, they learn program development, grant writing, and implementation of community-based programs. Students also take a series of courses designed to help them understand and intervene in conditions that impair participation in occupations across the life span (Critical Reasoning and Clinical Decision Making thread). They take: Assessment of Occupational Participation, Occupation-Based Theory and Practice, Infant and Childhood Occupations and Therapeutic Interventions, Adolescent and Young Adult Occupations and Therapeutic Interventions, and Middle and Late Adulthood Occupations and Therapeutic Interventions.

These courses focus on

• Deficits in participation and disabilities related to age and stage of development
• Assessment of performance of activities of daily living appropriate to each age group
• Occupational therapy evidence-based intervention approaches.