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Professional Description
The Department of Occupational Therapy offers a graduate program that prepares the student for unique contributions to the field of occupational therapy. This professional level program is designed for individuals with baccalaureate degrees in other fields who are seeking to become occupational therapists at the graduate level.
Educational Orientation
The professional graduate program at Rush University is designed for the student who has acquired a variety of life experiences through previous educational, vocational, and avocational activities. The program values the incorporation of these life experiences into the educational activities of the program. The educational approach utilized in the program that best addresses these spheres is based on theories of adult learning. By basing the program on adult learning theories, it is possible to build on the students' past, connect it to their activities of the present, and predict a future of competent, capable responses to the needs of the profession. The program is designed to enable the student to learn not only the content and theories of occupational therapy, but also the process of utilizing the multiple resources of the learning environment, including teachers and peers. A series of carefully designed learning experiences, occurring within and outside the classroom, promote independence in conjunction with collegial interaction, problem solving and clinical reasoning, and analysis and synthesis of information. The graduate emerges as a competent therapist who has maintained initial curiosity and has added to it through increased ability for creative thinking. Because of experiences in self-directed learning and in self-identification of needs, the graduate is able to be responsible and responsive to the needs of the profession. The graduate is expected to be a life-long learner who is capable of maintaining professional integrity when faced with challenges and complexities of contemporary healthcare.
Professional Orientation
Since the Rush graduate will be prepared to work in a variety of traditional and nontraditional settings, their practice base is the result of broad experiences within the many arenas of occupational therapy. The graduates have the ability to add increasing amounts of depth and validation to their treatment programs as a result of their involvement and experiences with problem solving approaches to therapy. Given the combination of breadth and depth of knowledge and experience related to occupational therapy treatment, the primary strength of Rush University graduates will be their ability to function as highly resourceful practitioners. As in the past, and for the foreseeable future, the role of the practitioner is the core of all occupational therapy. The practitioner who is able to base treatment on established fact, use internal and external resources, and engage in clinical reasoning and problem solving is the practitioner who will contribute to the credibility and viability of the profession. It is this type of practitioner who is expected to be the product of the Rush program.
The graduates of the program are able to enter the clinical arena competently and confidently, applying their clinical skills and expanding upon those skills as individual situations require. This continuous process of assessment and expansion contributes to the personal and professional growth vital to occupational therapists. The role of the clinician, as it is understood in this context, incorporates other major roles of the therapist. As the Rush program is designed, the students have the opportunity to explore the functions of the therapist as an educator, researcher and manager from the practitioner's perspective. The involvement of the student in these other roles is another major strength of the program. The additional roles of educator, manager, and researcher cannot be separated from the practitioner's role.
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