Occupational Therapy (pre-registration) MSc

University of East Anglia

About This Course

The central theory of occupational therapy is that all humans are occupational beings and we all engage in meaningful activities to live a fulfilling life. As such, activity itself can be used to aid rehabilitation and independent living. Occupational therapists work closely with people who have an illness, injury or disability to help them live their lives to their full potential. You could be helping a child with a learning disability, a young person with anorexia, or an elderly person to recover from a stroke. Occupational therapy is extremely varied and requires ‘out of the box’ thinking alongside professional reasoning. You will be taught within a multi-professional health school, so you will be well-equipped for working in contemporary healthcare settings once you graduate. Our course will enable you to deliver excellent, person-centred, inter-professional practice.

About

Occupational therapists are qualified to work in a uniquely varied range of settings, and our two-year, full-time course will teach you how to apply professional reasoning, drawing on human sciences, occupational therapy theory, psychology, sociology and creativity. Respectful relationships with service users are at the heart of occupational therapy practice and at the heart of our programme throughout. As a result, we have Experts by Experience sessions where service users speak to you about their experiences of their condition.

Our Master’s programme is open to arts, science, healthcare and humanities graduates. If you are hoping to pursue a career in occupational therapy, our enquiry based-style of learning will shape your understanding of the profession, and underpin it with knowledge of human sciences and therapeutic approaches.

Our active learning approach is designed to engage you cognitively, emotionally and spiritually, so you develop your professional identity as an occupational therapist and gain the skills to use yourself therapeutically within health and social care settings. Throughout the programme, you will have an advisor who will help you to reflect on your highs and lows, enabling you to learn from both. You will also learn how to use professional development tools to identify your personal learning needs and goals.

Your time with us will be split between university-based learning and practice-based learning. We have a dedicated placement team, who work closely with our practice partners to set up a balanced range of placement experiences for you. While on placement, you will be allocated a dedicated educational supervisor; a qualified occupational therapist, who will support you as you apply your knowledge and gain skills and confidence. Your practice educator will be experienced in judging your needs and will help you to challenge yourself.

We also provide the exciting opportunity for you to take ownership of your professional development and arrange your final eight-week placement in a specialist field you are passionate about or haven’t yet experienced.

The course provides four practice placement experiences across the two years. The structure of each year and use of Enquiry Based Learning enables you to develop your core skills prior to Practice Placement 1 and then develop complex therapeutic skills by your final Professional Development placement.

Practice placements are designed to give students the skills to work across NHS, independent, private and third sector settings which reflect the contexts of future health and social care. This range of experiences will develop your flexibility and transferable skills. All students will undertake their placements within the same timeframe and will complete a minimum of 37.5 hours assessed practice per week, including 3.5 hours of portfolio development per week.

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