M.A. in Occupational Therapy (Two-Year): Curriculum and Requirements

The two-year core curriculum includes three clinical immersions in Pediatrics, Mental Health, and Adult Physical Rehabilitation, as well as elective options. Courses focus on the basic professional content required for all academic programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)*. Topics include medical sciences, occupational development and performance, and the various areas of practice. Hands-on experience is introduced early in the program in order to support you in honing basic technical skills and integrating this practice with theory. In the second year of the program, you will begin to tailor your electives to support a specialty focus of your choice.

First-Year Coursework

In the first year, students learn the fundamentals of professional practice as well as the powerful relationship of occupations to health. You will complete two of the required clinical immersions and core courses focus on content spanning all areas of occupational therapy practice, such as:

Behavioral neuroscience
Research and evidence-based practice
Clinical reasoning
Therapeutic use of self
Communication skills for effective practice

Second-Year Coursework

In the second year, students complete a final clinical immersion and you will develop your own community-based occupational therapy project utilizing the research and clinical skills gleaned from your coursework. In the final semester, students participate in an advanced seminar in occupational science, and a two-week externship designed to enhance your communication skills and prepare you to become a leader in the field. You will also benefit from an individually designed plan of elective courses.

Electives

The electives you select are the building blocks for your preparation in a specialty area. To fulfill your elective units, you can take courses offered by the Division or by USC’s other professional schools, or you can design your own elective course.

Division Electives include:

OT 500abc Clinical Problems in Occupational Therapy
OT 555 Seminar: Implementation of the Advocacy Model
OT 560 School-based Practice
OT 564 Sensory Integration Theory
OT 571 Assistive Technology
OT 572 Ergonomics
OT 573 Hand Rehabilitation
OT 574 Enhancing Motor Control for Occupation
OT 575 Dysphagia Across the Lifespan: Pediatrics through Geriatrics
OT 576 Universal Design
OT 578 Therapeutic Communication for the Healthcare Practitioner
OT 583 Lifestyle Redesign
OT 590 Directed Research

Read Course Descriptions here.

Other USC School Electives (400 level classes and above)

Occupational therapy elective course work may be combined with four units from another school within USC, such as:

The Marshall School of Business
The Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
The School of Policy, Planning and Development
The College of Letters, Arts and Sciences

You will begin specialization and create your own individualized professional pathway through the combination of elective courses that you choose, allowing you to jump-start your career in your occupational therapy practice area of choice.

For example, a student interested in pursuing a career as an occupational therapist specializing in pediatrics might take the following combination of elective courses:

OT 560: School-based Practice
OT 564: Sensory Integration
OT 575: Dysphagia Across the Lifespan: Pediatrics through Geriatrics

OT 560 provides in-depth learning experiences for practice in school settings while OT 564 provides a comprehensive overview of one of the most prevalent intervention theories used in pediatric therapy and OT 575 provides assessment and intervention training to help patients who may be struggling with atypical swallowing.

How you choose to design your pathway will be based on your own practice and research interests as they develop through your experiences in fieldwork and in the foundational core courses of the program.

To further tailor the curriculum to your career goals, you may be granted the option of taking more elective coursework in other USC schools in lieu of division electives.

Fieldwork

USC offers fieldwork placements at more than 750 sites both domestically and internationally. Beginning one day per week during the first semester and culminating in two full-time summer placements, fieldwork provides invaluable hands-on experience in the key practice areas of occupational therapy. Our devoted team of fieldwork coordinators will work with you to find a placement that corresponds with your interests and desired geographic location. Through the clinical immersions, you are encouraged to expand your horizons by trying out new practice areas. Although fieldwork is not required for the Master’s degree at USC, it is required to take the NBCOT examination.

Comprehensive Exam or Master’s Thesis Option

During the second year of the program, you are given the choice of whether to pursue the Master’s thesis option or the comprehensive examination option.

Comprehensive Examination Option

Most students will choose the comprehensive exam option. The comprehensive examination is given at the end of the fall and spring semesters each year and enables you to choose three elective courses (at least two from within the division). A minimum of 32 units, not counting fieldwork units, is required to graduate with this option.

*A student who fails the comprehensive exam may take it a second time. A student who fails the exam a second time will be terminated from the program.

Master’s Thesis Option

The thesis option provides an opportunity to conduct and report on an original piece of research. Thesis work typically begins either during the spring, summer or fall semester of the second year and usually requires an additional one or two semesters. This option requires four units of electives, either in the department or outside the department, and two or more semesters of OT 594 (Thesis) for 2 units each semester. A minimum of 28 units, excluding fieldwork units, is required to graduate under this option.

Requirements for Graduation

In order to graduate with a Master’s in Occupational Therapy on the comprehensive examination track, you must have completed:

• 20 units of required OT
• 8 units of OT electives
• 4 units of electives from either in or outside the Division
• GPA of 3.0 or better (both applied and overall)
• The comprehensive examination with a passing score

In order to graduate with a Master’s in Occupational Therapy on the thesis track, you must have completed:

• 20 units of required OT coursework
• 4 units of electives from either in or outside the Division
• At least 4 units of thesis coursework
• GPA of 3.0 or better (both applied and overall)
• A Master’s thesis accepted by both your committee and the thesis editor of the graduate school

Graduation

Upon successful completion of all courses and either passing the comprehensive examination or having your thesis accepted by the Graduate School, you will be awarded the Master of Arts (M.A.) degree. At USC, fieldwork is not required for the master’s degree (but it is required to take the NBCOT examination). As a result, Comprehensive Exam Option students will have met all requirements for graduation in May of their second year. Thesis option students typically take an extra semester or two to complete their thesis.

National Board Certification

Once students have successfully completed all professional course work (to fulfill the requirements for the master’s degree), and the required number of fieldwork hours, they are eligible to sit for the professional examination offered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). Candidates should visit www.nbcot.org for specific information on the examination process. Students who pass this examination earn the designation “Occupational Therapist, Registered” (OTR) and, after fulfilling state licensing requirements, can begin practice as an integral member of the health care community.

*The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education can be contacted at: ACOTE, c/o Accreditation Department, American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda MD 20814-3449. www.acoteonline.org (301) 652-2682