UB, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

• Occupational Science/Occupational Therapy - B.S./M.S.
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You are here: Undergraduate Catalog 2005 - 2006 > Academic Programs > Occupational Therapy

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

School of Public Health and Health Professsions
515 Kimball Tower
South Campus
Buffalo, NY 14214-3079

Phone: 716.829.3141
Fax: 716.829.3217
Web: sphhp.buffalo.edu/ot

About the Program

The Occupational Therapy program at the University at Buffalo is based on the philosophical belief that people have a vital need for occupation. Occupation is defined as the ways in which people occupy their time and includes such activities as self-care, play, work, and leisure. One engages in occupation for three primary reasons: (1) to acquire the skills and behaviors necessary for ensuring one’s survival, (2) to achieve a sense of quality in one’s life, and (3) to contribute to the progress and well-being of society by being a productive member of that society.

Based on the assumption that it is within the context of roles that people engage in occupation, the concept of occupational role emerged to account for those major life roles that occupy one’s time. These major life roles or occupational roles have a developmental perspective and change over the course of a lifetime. They include the roles of preschooler, student, worker and/or homemaker, and retiree. Each role has its associated age-appropriate and role-appropriate tasks that influence the nature of one’s occupations. What evolves in responding to these tasks is called occupational behavior. Occupational competence is defined as an individual’s ability to engage in a fulfilling lifestyle consistent with his or her goals and values.

When individuals are threatened by deprivation, disease, illness, or injury, occupational therapy intervenes to protect and/or restore (1) the individual’s physical, psychological, and social capacities to achieve occupational competence; and (2) the skills and habits of effective role performance. Occupational therapy is committed to providing services to the “whole person”; thus, occupational therapy is holistic in its orientation to health care.

The entry-level professional occupational science/occupational therapy program is a five year combined BS/MS program. Preceding their professional preparation, students receive a liberal arts education in their pre-professional studies. The professional program, structured to prepare students for personal and professional development, is flexible enough to meet the needs and interests of individual students while still ensuring that upon graduation they will be competent to enter the profession.

Professional-level classes begin in the summer immediately preceding the junior year. The ten-week summer program includes ANA 407 Gross Human Anatomy (6 credit hours), which meets daily for eight weeks, and OT 351 OT Practice Skills I (2 credit hours), which continues for ten days following ANA 407. Three additional academic semesters and a summer at the undergraduate level provide learning experiences structured to integrate theory and practice. During the second semester of the fourth year, students progress to the MS component of the program. At this time, students register for six months of full-time supervised fieldwork experience.

Students choose fieldwork sites by a lottery system and in consultation with the fieldwork director. Additional fieldwork experiences in such specialized areas of practice as developmental disabilities, substance abuse, and ergonomics are available as electives. The program maintains clinical affiliation agreements with more than 150 health-care facilities throughout the United States for student placement. Students should expect to leave the Western New York area to fulfill this requirement. Upon completion of fieldwork, students return to the campus for the fifth year of the program.

Degree Options

Students are awarded the combined BS/MS degree in occupational science/occupational therapy upon completion of all program and university requirements. Students who do not progress to the MS component of the program will be awarded a BS in occupational science after the successful completion of the 129 credits in the BS portion of the program. Only students who are awarded the combined BS/MS are eligible to take the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 4720 Montgomery Lane, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220, (301) 652-AOTA.

Acceptance Information

The Occupational Therapy program has a Freshman Admission Policy. Students who declare occupational therapy as their major on the UB application are automatically accepted into the occupational Therapy program. Courses in the first two years of the BS program meet the general education requirements and occupational science pre-requisite courses. Students must complete the required pre-requisite courses with a grade of C or better and have a minimum GPA of 2.5 in the pre-requisite courses to advance to professional level status during the summer between the sophomore and junior years. By January 15 of the second year of the program, students accepted into the occupational therapy program under the Freshman Admission or Transfer Student Admission Policy (see below), must complete a Promotion to Professional Sequence form. Additionally, students must submit evidence of a minimum of seventy hours of volunteer/work experience in an occupational therapy setting providing direct patient/client care under the supervision of an occupational therapist.

All students other than those admitted as freshman or transfer students must (1) have a minimum grade of C in all prerequisite courses; (2) complete, by January 15 of the sophomore year, a minimum of seventy hours of recent (within the past two years) volunteer or work experience in a direct patient care environment, under the supervision of an occupational therapist; and (3) submit an application by January 15 of the sophomore year.

Advisement

During the pre-professional phase of the program (Years 1 and 2), occupational therapy students should contact Diane Gayles or Cassandra Walker-Whiteside at (716) 829-3434 for academic advisement; transfer students should contact Douglas Frye at (716) 829-3141. Upon promotion to the professional sequence of the program, each student is assigned a faculty advisor from the Ocupational Therapy program.

Transfer Policy

Students can enter the Occupational Therapy program as transfer students from other institutions. Any transfer student who meets the minimum requirements for admission into the University at Buffalo is qualified for acceptance directly into the Occupational Therapy program; however, courses completed at other colleges or universities are not automatically accepted by the program as fulfilling the prerequisite requirements. Determination is made by an evaluation of the student’s transcripts, descriptions of courses that he/she has taken, and credit hours completed. It is recommended that prospective transfer students contact the department to determine the suitability of prior coursework. Also, all students must meet the criteria for promotion to the professional sequence of the program. (See additional information under Acceptance Information).

Currently, the program has an articulation agreement with Jamestown Community College, and prerequisite course equivalencies have been established.

Honors, Awards, and Scholarships

A number of scholarships and financial aid opportunities are available each year to OT students. The following are some of the scholarships routinely available:

The American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF). A limited number of scholarships are available for undergraduate and graduate OT students. An applicant for a foundation scholarship must: (1) be a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, (2) be enrolled as a full-time student in occupational therapy, (3) demonstrate a need for financial assistance, and (4) have a record of outstanding scholastic achievement.

New York State Occupational Therapy Association (NYSOTA) Scholarships. Awards are granted annually from the Wollman Scholarship Fund. To qualify, students must (1) be currently enrolled full-time or accepted into an occupational therapy program in New York State leading to a bachelor's or higher degree, (2) be a resident of New York State, and (3) be a NYSOTA member. Awards are granted on the basis of community and professional involvement, academic excellence, personal maturity, professional promise, and financial need, not necessarily in that order of importance.

Stonegraber Scholarship Fund. This fund was established in memory of Eleanor and David Stonegraber. Mrs. Stonegraber was an OTR in the Buffalo and Rochester areas and director of occupational therapy at Rochester Psychiatric Center at the time of her retirement in 1959. The fund provides financial aid for students in occupational therapy and physical therapy at the University at Buffalo. The amount varies from year to year, ranging from 0 to ,500. To qualify, a student must (1) demonstrate financial need, (2) show academic promise, and (3) have a firm commitment to the profession.

Linda Walters Memorial Scholarship. This award was established to remember the efforts of Linda Walters, an OT student whose ill health prevented her from completing the professional program at UB. Beginning 1993, this scholarship has been issued to a senior OT student who is a COTA. To apply for this award, students must demonstrate professional promise and financial need.

Niagara Frontier District, NYSOTA (NFD/NYSOTA). The district OT association provides scholarship assistance to students at the University at Buffalo. Other district associations of the NYSOTA also offer scholarships to students whose permanent residence is located within one of these other districts.

Practical Experience and Special Opportunities

The School of Public Health and Health Professions has a linkage agreement for scholarly exchange and collaboration with the Universidade Presidente Antonio Carlos (UNIPAC), Barbacena (MG) in Brazil. As a result of this agreement, occupational therapy students have the opportunity to travel to Brazil to visit occupational therapy educational programs, rehabilitation programs, clinics, and hospitals. Students also have the opportunity to host and interact with Brazilian students, both professionally and socially, who are visiting the University at Buffalo.

Career Opportunities/Further Study

Occupational therapists work in all types of private, nonprofit, and public settings, including schools, hospitals, nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and community health agencies.

An advanced MS is also available that will prepare professionals for careers in research or academic settings.