Misericordia University

Catalog - Table of Index

Occupational Therapy Post Professional Programs

College of Health Sciences

Degree MS, Occupational Therapy
Department Chair Ellen McLaughlin, EdD, OTR/L
Coordinator, Post-Professional Pediatrics Amy Lynch, MS, OTR/L

Faculty

Gwen Bartolacci, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, AS Mount Aloysious College; BS University of North Dakota; MS The Pennsylvania State University; OTD Nova Southeastern University

Joseph A. Cipriani, Professor of Occupational Therapy, BA Wilkes University; BS College Misericordia; MA Wichita State University; EdD Nova Southeastern University

Grace S. Fisher, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy, BA Wilkes University; Post-Baccalaureate Certificate University of Pennsylvania; MS College Misericordia; EdD Temple University

Ellen McLaughlin, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, BS, MS College Misericordia; EdD Rutger‘s University

Amy Lynch, Coordinator of Post Professional Pediatrics, BS Gettysburg College; MS Tuft’s University

Lalit J. Shah, Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy, BS University of Bombay; MS College Misericordia; EdD, Nova Southeastern University

Post Professional Master’s Degree Program

Coordinators: Ellen McLaughlin, EdD, OTR/L

The post-professional master’s of science in occupational therapy is a 30-credit graduate program with two tracks, an interdisciplinary and pediatric concentration. Students in all tracks of the program will complete a total of 30 graduate credits distributed among the following categories: theory and core: 9 credits; research: 9 credits; concentration: 12 credits.

This program is offered in a variety of formats using an adult learning model, including online distance education, weekend or night courses and workshop formats. The pediatric track includes courses currently being offered in the post-professional pediatric certificate program. This allows students to transfer their graduate credits from the certificate program into the post-professional master’s degree program. The interdisciplinary track includes courses from a variety of departments including education, nursing, and organizational management.

Curricular goals of the program include:

The student will be able to foster the most effective interventions when working with occupational therapy clientele to promote independence and success in their life roles and activities.
The students will advance their knowledge base in specialty areas related to occupational therapy and their practice through the choice of four elective courses within the MS program.
The student will be able to synthesize their knowledge base in research and evidence based practice in order to implement best practice in occupational therapy.
The student will advance their knowledge base in order to integrate and evaluate occupational therapy theory in clinical practice.

Below is a brief overview of the curriculum for the post-professional masters degree in occupational therapy. Courses in bold are required of all students.

Theory and Core 9 credits

HP 600	Pediatric Issues/Trends or OT 630 Issues and Trends
OT 620	Analysis of Theories
HP 670	Grant Writing*
OR
HP 625

* May not be used to satisfy both the Core and Research Requirements

Research 9 credits

OT 520	Research Methods
OT 690	Research Project I or OT 615 Evidence Based Practice
OR
OT 695	Research Project II
HP 615	OR OT 670

Concentration Courses 12 credits

Students may choose 12 credits in Pediatrics or from the Interdisciplinary offerings.
HP 600	Pediatric Issues/Trends
or
OT 630	Issues and Trends
OT 520	Research Methods

Education Offerings:

EDU 510	Learning
EDU 568	Distance Education
OT 620	Analysis of Theories
OT 690	Research Project
or
OT 615	Evidence Based Practice

Nursing Offerings:

NSG 551	Post Professional Pharmacology
NSG 555	Legal, Ethical and Public Policy Issues in Health Care
NSG 552	Pathophysiology for Post Professional Nursing
NSG 502	Curriculum Design
NSG 505	Teaching-Learning Strategies
HP 670	Grant Writing*
OT 695	Research Project II
or
HP 670	Grant Writing*

Organizational Management Offerings:

OM 500	Organizational Behavior
OM 509	Financial Management
OM 530	Legal Aspects of Administration
OM 536	Managing Customer Satisfaction
OM 535	Leadership
OM 538	Perspectives in Management
OM 545	Introduction to Human Resources
Pediatric Certificate Offerings are listed in the following section.

* May not be used to satisfy both the Core and Research Requirements

Admissions Requirements

The post-professional master’s degree program requires submission of the following information for admissions consideration:

Official scores from the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT). These scores must be less than five years old. For students in the Pediatric Certificate Program, this requirement will be waived if they have completed at least 9 credits of the program with a 3.5 or higher GPA.
NBCOT initial certification as an occupational therapist
College/ university transcripts from all prior academic work
Basic Statistics course
Undergraduate GPA of 2.8 or higher
Statement of professional goals and how matriculation in the post - professional masters degree program can contribute to those goals.
Two letters of reference

Students taking courses in the pediatric certificate program who wish to move into the post-professional master’s degree program should apply by the final semester of their 12 credit certificate, if they have not completed formal application prior to that point.

If students are not enrolled in the pediatric certificate program, and they are interested in pursuing the master’s degree, they must formally apply to the post-professional master’s degree program after six credits of coursework.

Students in the post-professional master’s degree program must take 30 graduate credits to receive the master’s of science degree. Credits transferable to this degree must be within the following guidelines:

all courses transferred in must be formally evaluated by the registrar’s office for transferability;
students who have received an ELM from Misericordia University will automatically receive credit for OT520, OT 620 and OT 630. These students must take Grant Writing (HP 670) and Evidence-Based Practice (OT 615) as their remaining research requirements; and,
for students who have not graduated from the ELM at Misericordia University, a maximum of six transfer credits will be accepted towards the 30 required for the master’s of science degree.

Post-professional Certificate in Pediatrics

This program is designed to provide learning experiences in pediatric practice for practicing occupational and physical therapists using an adult learning model. Students in the program must complete four 3- credit graduate courses within a 4-semester time frame. Students can take greater than one course per semester, and are encouraged to do so particularly in the summer semester. One course is required: Advanced Practice Pediatric Issues and Trends (HP 600). This course should be taken in the first semester of enrollment. Students can take an additional course at the same time they take this course. Students can enter the program in either the summer or fall semesters. Class size is expected to be 12-20 students per course.

A combination delivery model of face-to-face and distance learning is used. Each course is offered in one or both of the following two delivery systems, depending on the best way to facilitate learning objectives. The first delivery model is one to four days of on campus learning, with the use of distance education tools in between. Misericordia University uses WebCT as the platform for distance education. Training will be provided on how to use this fascinating internet tool. The other delivery model includes workshop model, with a five day intensive on-campus learning experience.

Courses that may be applied to the certificate in pediatrics include: Advanced Practice Pediatric Issues and Trends (HP 600); Pediatric Evaluation (HP 60), Treatment and Evaluation of Pediatric Feeding Issues (HP 615), Sensory Integration Treatment and Evaluation (HP 625); School Based Pediatric Occupational and Physical Therapy (HP 635); Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Issues and Interventions (HP 645); Early Intervention (HP 650); Evidence-based Neurodevelopmental Treatment and Evaluation for Children with Central Nervous System Dysfunction (HP 655); Autism and Pervasive Developmental Delay: Evaluation and Intervention Strategies (HP 660); Seating in Pediatric Practice (HP 665); and, Special Topics: Vision Rehabilitation (HP 610).

Occupational Therapy Post-professional Course Descriptions