Program Overview

Occupational Therapy, M.S.

The master's degree in occupational therapy (MSOT) is a two-year, 60-credit program that, when completed, allows the graduate to sit for the required national certification exam to become a registered occupational therapist (OTR). The MSOT at Southern entered its first class in the summer of 2025. Students complete 4 academic semesters, including two summers, followed by the required 6 months of supervised fieldwork, prior to graduation.

Program Features

• Two years of full-time study, two summers included
• 60 credits
• Cohort of up to 40 students per year
• Integrated curriculum focusing on occupation
• Evidence-based education, such as active engaged learning with flipped classroom
• Emphasis on community service learning
• Alternative grading approaches that focus on learning over grades
• Two modules per semester to focus on fewer courses at a time
• Late day schedule
• Holistic admissions process
• A mission to foster greater diversity in the profession and to support student belonging
• Expert and exceptional faculty

Program Mission, Vision, and Philosophy

Our mission is to intentionally cultivate a diverse and compassionate community with a sense of belonging, who will embrace human differences, and excel in the provision of occupational therapy with hope, humility, and creativity. As occupational therapists who believe in occupational rights, we will champion access to personally meaningful activities, and skillfully promote, and inspire positive change for the health, wellbeing, and resilience of all people.

Our vision is an effective interprofessional health care system, where occupational therapy is a diverse profession that is understood and valued for its unique perspectives and skills and sought after by community members who believe in the power of human occupation to improve health and wellbeing.

Our motto will be OT Unbounded, as we seek to create occupational therapists who will identify needs, and creatively generate collaborative and effective solutions that are not limited by the "traditional" occupational therapy practice boundaries within our U.S healthcare system. Our goal is to unleash a diverse occupational therapy force for change, with students who understand and appreciate the value of human differences, who understand that there may be multiple correct solutions and multiple opinions, who will seek out the knowledge of others within their learning community when needed, and who will actively work for change where change is needed.

Philosophy of Occupation

We share the philosophy espoused by AOTA (2020) and Hooper and Wood (2019), that humans are occupational by nature and require occupation to thrive and flourish. Occupations influence health, well-being, and quality of life. The occupational therapy profession's core values of altruism, equality, and justice, therefore, insist that we must adopt the stance that equal access to occupational opportunities is a human right.

Advisory Board

The Occupational Therapy Program at Southern Connecticut State University is guided by an expert advisory board comprising professionals with clinical practice expertise across ten distinct areas. Many members also bring valuable academic experience. The inaugural board members have committed to serving on the advisory board for terms ranging from one to three years, with subsequent terms being set at three years.

Curriculum

Themes

• Understanding Human Occupational Performance
  • Evaluation and assessment of humans, occupations, and environments
  • Considering the impact of social factors, diagnoses, conditions, and human development on occupation
  • Activity analysis and observation skills
  • Using tests and measures appropriately
• Human Occupation as an Agent of Health, Wellbeing, and Change
  • How occupation relates to health and wellbeing
  • The importance of learning, change, and growth throughout the lifespan
  • Clinical reasoning and evidence-based practice skills for selecting and implementing effective interventions through occupation
• Community Empowerment and Advocacy for Occupational Access
  • Creating community, belonging, and bridging differences
  • Occupational rights and access
  • The capabilities model
  • Relationships between social determinants of health and occupational access
• Belonging to the Profession of Occupational Therapy
  • The profession's history, unique perspectives, ethics, values, and professional behaviors
  • Developing professional identity
  • Creating a professional portfolio
  • Collaboration in interprofessional teams

Special Collaborative Opportunities and Interprofessional Educational Experiences

Special collaborative opportunities in the community, international, and interprofessional education experiences are vital components of our occupational therapy (OT) curriculum, enriching learning by exposing students to real-world challenges and diverse perspectives.

Prerequisites

Required Prerequisites Include

• Human Anatomy and Physiology I and II with lab (8 credits)
• Abnormal Psychology (3 credits)
• Lifespan or Human Development courses that cover the lifespan (3-9 credits)
• Sociology or Social Psychology (3 credits)
• Research Methods / Introductory Statistics (3 credits)

Performance on Prerequisites

• All prerequisite course grades B- or better, however, the combined prerequisite GPA must be a 3.0.
• Any single prerequisite course may have been retaken, but only once.
• Prerequisites have no expiration date.

Tuition and Fees

Program Costs

Accreditation

The entry-level occupational therapy master's degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Candidacy Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). The program must have a preaccreditation review, complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT).