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Occupational Therapy
Major Adviser: Diane Long,
Graduate Chair,
dlong@ithaca.edu
The Department of Occupational Therapy offers
a five-year master of science program in occupational therapy in which
students receive a B.S. in occupational science and an M.S. degree in
occupational therapy after the fifth year. Students must complete the
fifth year to be eligible for the national certification examination
and state licensure as occupational therapists. This program is designed
as a freshman-entry program, and graduate students are admitted only
from the Ithaca College undergraduate occupational science program.
The undergraduate component of this program is described in the Ithaca
College undergraduate
catalog.
The fifth year of the occupational therapy program takes place on the
Ithaca College campus and at clinical fieldwork sites located throughout
the country. The graduate year of study consists of 42 credits of graduate work, including
16 credits of clinical fieldwork education. The graduate year includes
one full academic year of study and two summers. Students may elect
a thesis or non-thesis option, but all engage in research-related activities
during this year, which is designed to provide depth and breadth of
education beyond traditional entry-level occupational therapy education.
The occupational therapy program at Ithaca College is accredited by
the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)
of the American
Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA, 4720 Montgomery
Lane, P.O. Box 331220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. Telephone 301-652-AOTA).
Graduates of the master's program will be eligible to sit for the national
certification examination administrated by the National
Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT).
After successful completion of this exam, the graduate will be an occupational
therapist, registered (OTR). In New
York and most other jurisdictions, a professional license
is also required for practice. Although the NBCOT examination generally
serves as the licensing examination, graduates are required to apply
separately for certification and state licensure before entering clinical
practice.
Admission Requirements
To be eligible for admission, students must have completed the
B.S. degree program in occupational science
at Ithaca College with a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher. Students
who have completed the degree with a cumulative GPA below 3.00, but
equal to or greater than 2.70, will be required to pass a departmental
graduate admissions examination at the completion of the spring semester
of their senior year to be admitted to the graduate program.
Academic Standards
Students are expected to maintain a GPA of 3.00 or higher during their
graduate studies. Students may not receive a C (C-, C, or C+) for more
than six credits, or an F for more than
three credits during their graduate academic
study. Students who fail to meet these standards in any semester will
be placed on academic warning.
If a student receives a grade of F for a level II fieldwork class he
or she will be placed on academic warning by the department and the
Division of Graduate Studies. The student must register for and successfully
complete an alternate fieldwork assignment as scheduled by the academic
fieldwork coordinator. The faculty may require remedial work or apply
special conditions that the student must meet before allowing the student
to repeat this class. If the student successfully completes this course,
he or she may continue in the program; however, no one will be allowed
more than one repeat of a level II fieldwork class. These policies,
as well as academic, clinical, and professional behavior standards are
published in the Occupational Therapy Student Manual, the Occupational
Therapy Fieldwork Manual, and the Ithaca College undergraduate
catalog.
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