College of Education and Rehabilitation

Occupational Therapy Department

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 develop a distinctive multi-track, integrated, vertical career ladder for the academic and clinical preparation of both master’s and doctoral students.  We promote leadership careers and specializations in emerging areas of practice as part of our integrated educational options for students at both the post-baccalaureate and post-master’s level.

This multiple pathways model allows students to stop at the Master of Science degree in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) level. It also serves as a gateway to our doctoral programs through admission in our Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program, or the University’s PhD degree in Biomedicine, an interdisciplinary program designed for health professionals seeking graduate research training and/or an academic career track.

The Occupational Therapy program at Salus uses four key components to achieve that 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. 

Specialty Laboratories

At Salus there are multiple planned opportunities for Occupational Therapy students to engage and study with students from Optometry, Audiology, Physician Assistant, Education and Rehabilitation, and Public Health programs. Specialty laboratories provide students with a common experience, where they can acquire key understandings about their own professional attitudes in relation to other professional attitudes and perspectives.  These shared experiences are expanded with the use of case study methods in the behavioral sciences, a standardized approach to analysis and applications of scholarly research and in shared clinical placements.

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.  Doctoral students select and area of specialization for continued study.  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 may apply for entry into either the MSOT or OTD program. It is possible for students to change their degree selection once they are enrolled.  A student who enters the program as an MSOT candidate may request admission to the doctoral program (doctoral students also have the opportunity to request a change to the master’s program).

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.

Office of Admissions
800.824.6262
admissions@salus.edu