MSc OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY (FEBRUARY START)

The central theory of occupational therapy is that all humans are occupational beings. By which we mean that 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. The profession is extremely varied and requires ‘out of the box’ thinking alongside professional reasoning. Our course prepares you for an exciting and rewarding career. You’ll join a community of enthusiastic lecturers and educators and a very active OT Society. 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 contribution to excellent, person-centred, inter-professional practice.

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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 OT 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 experience of their condition. 

Our Master’s programme is open to arts, science, healthcare and humanities graduates. If you’re hoping to pursue a career in occupational therapy, our enquiry based-style of learning will shape your understanding of the job, 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’ll have a personal advisor who will help you reflect on your highs and lows, enabling you to learn from both. And you will 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, which will 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. They 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.    

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Placement Year and Study Abroad

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 the 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 experience will develop greater flexibility in students through the use of transferable skills defined by competency. The balance of interventions therefore shifts towards more client centred care and the ‘modern lifestyle’ – occupational therapy skills being taken to the patient rather than the patient coming to the skills. All students will undertake their placements within the same timeframe, and will be completing a minimum of 37 hours assessed practice, including 2 hours of portfolio development per week. You will arrange your own final eight-week placement, which could take place in the UK or abroad. However, overseas travel can put additional demands on students, so we ask to be consulted on any such plans and may advise against overseas travel in some circumstances.    

Year One: Placement 1   

This seven week placement is taken in September, when you will have undertaken a curriculum focusing on the human experience of occupation, deepening your understanding of the relationship between occupation and wellbeing, and moving towards facilitating occupation. The learning will be informed by relevant biopsychosocial theory within the Human Sciences, supported by the exploration of the evidence base within research and a developing sense of professionalism. Learning will be contextualised in contemporary and emerging health, social and community environments. On this placement you will be engaged in basic learning.   

Year Two: Placement 2   

This seven week occurs in February of the second year of study. You will be engaged in intermediate level learning. It builds on the transferable skills from Year One of the course, focusing on the use of occupation as a central concept. It will encourage you to demonstrate your learning moving from a basic level to an intermediate level.   

Year Two: Placement 3   

This seven week placement occurs in June of the second year of study and you will be engaged in complex learning building on previous study and practice placement experiences. It will encourage you to demonstrate their ability to work with complex patient presentations.  

Year Two: Placement 4: Professional Development Placement   

This final eight week placement occurs in October of the second year of study, where you will be engaged in complex learning. You will identify the placement and will negotiate with your personal advisor based on your personal learning needs and professional profile. You will arrange the placement within areas of practice who are not regular providers to the School.

For more information please see the following presentation regarding placements here. 

After the Course

Complete your programme successfully and you will be eligible to apply to register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Once registered, you will be able practice as an occupational therapist.     

A typical first job will consolidate your skills and may offer opportunities to progress into a specialist role or to take on management responsibilities. Alternatively you may decide to progress your career into clinical research or private practice.   

Career destinations

• National Health Service  

• Charitable organisations  

• Social services departments  

• Private health services  

• Own start-ups  

• Clinical research  

See our career pages for more information