Why choose this course?

This programme prepares you to work with people who, through illness, disability, trauma or personal circumstances, have complex personal health and social challenges to overcome.

You will learn to appreciate the importance of occupation to the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities and understand how occupational performance is influenced by environmental factors. There will be opportunity to think creatively, solve problems, analyse complex situations effectively to develop tailored and innovative interventions in order to facilitate therapeutic change and transformation. It is important to develop a sense of self-efficacy, enhanced personal and professional insight and the ability to empower and facilitate others to make choices, to take control and responsibility over their lives and aspirations.

Aligned with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists four Pillars of Practice (RCOT, 2017), this programme will provide a combination of theory based and practical experience supported by academic and practice educators with relevant expertise who will support your development as confident, compassionate and skilled Occupational Therapist.

What happens on the course?

Inter-professional learning (IPL) opportunities are embedded within both years of this programme with some modules being shared with other allied health professionals. Inter-professional learning is when students from different professional areas learn with, from and about each other to improve the quality of care. IPL is vital in supporting you to develop the knowledge, skills and insights necessary for employment within increasingly integrated and complex health and social care settings.

The course also benefits from a team committed to working to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists / World Federation of Occupational Therapists standards for their occupational therapy programmes. A focus on current public health priorities and the increasingly complex health needs of those using contemporary services. Service user involvement to ensure that the experiences of patients/service users and their carers/families are integrated into the programme.

Visiting and honorary lecturers / speakers from a wide range of health care and related fields who bring contemporary and real-world examples of practice into the classroom and links and knowledge from local, national and international research initiatives undertaken in the Institute of Health and the wider University research institutions.