A Distinctive, Innovative Occupational Therapy Program in Suburban Philly

The mission of the University’s Occupational Therapy (OT) program is to provide an inter-professional academic experience grounded in the core principles of occupation and influenced by emerging knowledge and technologies, leading to improved health and well-being for the individuals, communities, and populations graduates will serve. The Salus approach to occupational therapy education is to provide a distinctive and innovative program for the academic and clinical preparation of a master’s degree, advanced specialty certificate programs, and post-professional doctoral degree.

The OT Department offers both professional and post-professional programs for prospective students. Our professional Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT), emphasizes interdisciplinary perspectives, critical reasoning, the value of occupation, and professional development. The OT department also offers two post-professional programs for registered occupational therapists. The first is a Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree. This program, which is primarily online, is designed to help licensed OT practitioners progress professionally by becoming advanced content experts, future leaders, or assume teaching roles in higher education. The second is an Advanced Specialty Certificates program, which provides advanced content and clinical expertise in selected specialty areas including: Remedial Vision Rehabilitation, Health and Wellness, and Low Vision Rehabilitation.

The University’s OT programs use three key components to achieve their end:

Interprofessional Educational Experience

OT students are integrated into a community of professional graduate students who seek to become caring and competent health professionals, and who value the unique synergies possible in an interprofessional approach. This philosophy creates an environment that promotes a holistic approach to the care of the total person and encourages the sharing of information and the teamwork found in today’s health and rehabilitation professionals.

Emerging Areas of Practice

All students are introduced to a variety of specializations unique to Salus including vision rehabilitation, public health, and health and wellness. These are particularly emphasized in the post-professional OT doctoral program. Significant and diverse community-based clinical experiences further enrich the learning environment.

A Focus on Occupation

OT is based on the principle that people can improve their health and well-being by engaging in occupation, the dynamic process that supports an individual’s continuous adaptation. Occupation is self-directed, personally initiated, goal-directed and organized. To this extent, it is used as the central construct underlying the University’s OT curriculum. Students work in synergy with faculty, mentors, peers and consumers to reaffirm the occupation nature of humans and the principles of utilizing occupation as therapy.

Fieldwork within the MSOT Program

Students in the MSOT program have five fieldwork rotations, or real-world and hands-on externships within the healthcare world, starting in the spring semester of their first year. Fieldwork is meant to build entry-level confidence and is a good foundation for moving forward in the OT profession:

• Each student is placed individually based upon proximity, practice interest, and appropriateness of the setting to the students’ skill sets and personalities, as opposed to a lottery system that is common in other schools. This system allows students to gain diverse experiences and the most preparation for their board exam.

• Salus exclusive sites include the Breastfeeding Resource Center (a non-profit, community-based center that provides expert clinical and educational breastfeeding services), among others.

• There are three level one externships (completed in the second, third, and fourth semesters):

1) Pediatric 

2) Adult

3) Emerging Practice 

There are two level two externships in the fifth semester that are 12 weeks each:

1) Student preference 

2) Selected site based on skills and a balance to help students succeed on their board exams

While in level two externships, students write reflections, which allows other students to analyze the structure of their setting and discuss areas they excel in and or what they’d like to improve during their rotation. Results of each site are measured through the Student Evaluation of the Fieldwork Educator (SEFWE), where students provide feedback on the site, their preceptors, and how well their didactic material prepared them for fieldwork.

While many are local, travel externships are an option within specific parameters.

The fieldwork placement is intended to be an in-depth experiential experience that is critical to occupational therapy education. Sites are located in institutions, outpatient facilities, community-based services and/or schools in which they deliver acute, sub-acute or chronic care.

Apply for the OT Program

Students with a bachelor’s degree can apply for entry into the MSOT degree at Salus. Once accepted, students who graduate the MSOT program and successfully pass the OT registration examination have the option of continuing their education in the post-professional OTD program. A qualified student who enters the Salus program as an MSOT candidate may request pre-admission to the doctoral program contingent on successful graduation and National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) registration. The post-professional OTD program also welcomes applications from registered occupational therapists from any university who meet Salus’ admissions criteria.

Contact the Admissions office at Salus for more information.