What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapists use goal-specific activities to help people of all ages prevent, lessen, or overcome disabilities. Those who work in occupational therapy use their personal and professional skills to help people deal with health problems that interfere with their ability to function in daily life.

Occupational therapists are important members of the health-care team working closely with physicians; psychologists; nurses; and physical, speech, and recreational therapists. Career opportunities abound in hospitals, public and private schools, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and home health programs. Experienced therapists may also become private practitioners or choose to work in business and industrial settings.

Occupational therapists work in mental health, pediatrics, gerontology, physical disabilities, and many other areas. By gaining additional skills and training, they are able to practice in specialized areas such as hand rehabilitation, drug and alcohol abuse, and vocational rehabilitation. In addition to clinical practice, occupational therapists may choose to become involved in administration, education, or research. Occupational therapy is a varied, interesting, and rewarding career.

Touro College offers two different Occupational Therapy Programs:

B.S./M.S. - Occupational Therapy (OTR)
A.A.S. - Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA).

B.S./M.S. - Occupational Therapy (OTR):

This program offers a three-year, upperdivision curriculum leading to a combined Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Health Sciences and Master of Science (MS) degree in Occupational Therapy. Classes at the Bay Shore, Long Island program begin in the Fall of each year and are presented in six sequential academic semesters. Fieldwork is incorporated by way of three interspersed full-time clinical affiliations during the three-year commitment. Classes at the New York City program begin in January and follow the same six sequential academic semesters and fieldwork plan.

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Occupational Therapy Program at Touro College is to foster and guide the development of our students into professionals who will practice in keeping with the humanistic and ethical values of the Judaic tradition, and the humanistic, occupation-centered tenets of the profession. We aspire to prepare professionals to use their skills within the diverse scope of occupational therapy to shape and enhance the ability of persons of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to engage and participate in areas of occupation in the environmental contexts of the 21st century. The obligation to contribute to building a better society for all requires the development of leadership and communication skills for advocacy and empowerment of individuals with disabilities.

We believe in excellence, accountability, and innovation in our teaching methods that reflect a commitment to continued learning on the part of both faculty and staff. We recognize the need not only to transmit received ideas, theories, frames of reference, models of practice, and intervention strategies, but to also participate in the development and exploration of new ideas at the leading edge of health care. Accordingly, we encourage continuous personal responsibility for learning, scholarly activity, inquiry and reflective dialogue among our faculty and students which represents a commitment to professional development.

It is an essential belief of Occupational Therapy that humankind has an active role in creating and mastering the environment through a dynamic relationship involving engagement in meaningful occupation. Occupational therapy strives to enable clients to develop creative and adaptive skills to master life roles and environmental challenges through involvement and participation in goal-directed, purposeful activities or occupations appropriate to one’s age and ethnicity, and sociocultural context. Talmudic scholars see creativity, mastery, and adaptation as essential expressions of our humanness (Lander, 1990).

Other tenets central to Jewish thinking and essential to occupational therapy practice are the individual’s responsibility for contribution and service to others, particularly to the family, the aging, and those in need; the essential human dignity of each individual; recognition and respect for cultural values and traditions in human life; the importance of living one’s life according to ethical standards and the importance of promoting a healthy mind within a healthy body.