The mission of the Salus University Occupational Therapy program is to provide an inter-professional academic experience that is 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 that 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, and doctoral students.
The OT Department offers both professional and post-professional programs. Our professional program is a Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT), which 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 OTs progress in their field by becoming advanced content experts, future leaders, or assume teaching roles in higher education. The second is a Advanced Specialty Certificate, which provides advanced content and clinical expertise in selected specialty areas.
Additionally, a PhD degree in Biomedicine is available at Salus University, which is an interdisciplinary program designed for health professionals seeking graduate research training and/or an academic career track.
The Occupational Therapy program at Salus uses three key components to achieve their end:
Inter-Professional Educational Experience
Salus Occupational Therapy (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
Occupational Therapy 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 Occupational Therapy 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.
Students with a Bachelor’s degree 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 NBCOT registration. The post-professional OTD program is also welcomes applications from registered occupational therapists from any university who meets admissions criteria.
We invite you to learn more about our Occupational Therapy programs, admissions requirements and more. Please see the links on the left menu bar or contact our admissions office to discover the world of opportunity awaiting you at Salus University.
Learn about our OT program’s ACOTE accreditation at www.acoteonline.org.
Office of Admissions
800.824.6262