Occupational therapy enables people to fulfil their potential as active and creative beings. It is about working with people to help them gain control of their lives, make sense of their individual situations and ultimately improve the quality of their life. Occupational therapists believe that a balanced range of activities in everyday life is essential to maintain health and well-being. This course will provide you with the skills and knowledge that you will require to work as an occupational therapist in a range of human service settings. You will learn to analyse why people do certain things and how their behaviour influences their health. You will also develop an appreciation of how people’s lives can be shaped by their environment and culture and how these factors can impact on their health. Year One will provide an introduction to occupational therapy. You will study a range of modules and go on a practice placement. Placements are a key element of the course and take place each year, giving you the opportunity to put what you are learning into practice and to work with a wide range of individuals including children, older people, disabled people and people with a mental health problem. In Year Two you will focus on how to plan interventions and work with other team members. During Year Three, you will experience a range of teaching methods which include interactive lectures, workshops, group work and self directed learning activities. Year Four is largely geared towards independent and directed study and preparing you for practice. You will be encouraged to debate and appraise innovations in practice. We have implemented an Interprofessional Education (IPE) focus within all of our UG healthcare courses to help produce graduates who are confident in their own professional identity but with additional skills that will allow them to work as effective team members. The IPE component will develop your mutual understanding of roles, expertise and values of other team members; skills and strategies in working in teams; problem solving, team decision making skills; role flexibility; and ability to learn from others.

Excellent career prospects are available in National Health Service Trusts, local authority social work departments, voluntary organisations, private practice or industry. Your work as an occupational therapist may not necessarily be in a medical setting in, for example, a hospital or clinic. There is an exciting variety of work opportunities in the community, which includes working with the voluntary sector and in primary care. The experience you will gain on this course will enable you to work as part of a team with other health and social care professionals. Should you wish to pursue a more academic career path there are opportunities to study at Masters level and PhD. Marie Westwood BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy When I finished school, I wanted a break from studying and decided to go travelling around Europe. After two years travelling, I went to work in various care homes, hospitals and within the community, and it sparked my interest in occupational therapy: I wanted to help people gain their independence after an illness and the philosophy of occupational therapy applied to me. I was not ready to pursue a career in it at that point though, as I had two small daughters, but when they started school I went to FE college to do an HNC in Health Care. This, coupled with my work experience, allowed me to get on the Occupational Therapy course at QMU. I am really enjoying the course: I have found it really interesting and all my expectations have been met. I have really enjoyed my placements - all have been very different and a definite highlight. They have ranged from paediatrics, neuro-rehabilitation to forensic occupational therapy. QMU have also been very helpful in arranging placements for me that were fairly close to home due to me having children. The QMU campus is a great place to learn: there are lots of computers and a range of study spaces where you can practice presentations, meet with groups or have some quite study time. Everyone at QMU is friendly and willing to help, whatever the problem. It seems like everyone wants to support you to succeed and reach your goal. In Year Three, I got the opportunity be involved in the European network of occupational therapy in higher education (ENOTHE) where I gave a presentation with three of my peers in Coruna, Spain. This was the 15th ENOTHE meeting and was the European Year of Creativity and Innovation. Our presentation was 'An exploration of the use of the Wii console in occupational therapy'. I got the opportunity to meet with other OT students from across Europe, as well as meeting and listing to some inspirational lectures. As a mature student with two children, I didn’t expect to be able to get involved in anything like this, but I exceeded my own expectations. When I graduate, I hope to get a job as an occupational therapist, but who knows where my degree will take me, maybe I will do more travelling at some point and I could always come back to QMU to further my education. Fay Crawley BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy When I left school, I didn't really know what I wanted to do and took some time out where I had many amazing experiences: I volunteered with a class of adolescents with learning disabilities; worked as a carer for the elderly; was an au pair; trained and volunteered as a first aider; and spend three weeks in Africa. These experiences taught me a lot, were great for my CV and helped me to discover occupational therapy. I had never heard of it at school and was excited by the opportunities it seemed to hold. It suited both my creative and scientific interests. I explored it further and did some work experience and finally decided that this was what I wanted to do. I am really enjoying the course - in particular the optional module which I undertook on chronic pain, which is very interesting and is to be the subject of my dissertation. I have also really enjoyed learning about research and am looking forward to applying the skills that I have learnt. The course is well designed to meet many different learning needs with lectures and assessments structured in different ways including essays, group presentations, individual presentations and debates. In my second year, I leapt at the opportunity to undertake my placement in Trondheim, Norway and had an amazing time ,it was fantastic to see OT in a different culture and was both a personal and academic learning experience. Placements take place in each year and allow you to put theory into practice, consolidate the knowledge you have gained and learn the practical skills required to be an OT. The lecturers at QMU are really friendly, supportive and approachable and having a personal academic tutor for the four years is great. I would recommend QMU to friends as it offers diverse opportunities, fantastic support and takes into consideration many different learning styles, adapting to these appropriately.