Careers In Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy is a dynamic and growing health profession that intersects with medical, educational and community-based systems to serve people who face injuries, disability, or disadvantages relative to the things they want, need, and are required to do in their everyday lives - those things the profession calls occupations.
Occupational therapists work across the lifespan and across service areas to ensure that people, organizations, and populations have the needed capacities and skills, the just-right environments, and the social opportunities, to live life to the fullest.
Whether in an acute medical setting, an outpatient or rehabilitation center, a community mental health program, a pediatric clinic, or a public school, occupational therapists all have in common the goal of engaging people in meaningful activity to develop, restore or maintain health and optimal functioning.
Fall 2024 now open
The MSOT application for Fall 2024 is now open!
Visit https://graduate.appstate.edu/graduate-admissions/apply-graduate-school
To learn more about the program, join us at an upcoming virtual information session!
Sign up at https://grad.appstate.edu/portal/bcoh
Explore the Admission Requirements, including Prerequisite Coursework
About The Program
The Master of Science program in occupational therapy at Appalachian State University is a new, 24-month full-time, year-round program that begins on campus in Boone in Fall 2024. Students who enroll in the program will benefit from coursework that integrates fieldwork and service opportunities, interprofessional learning events and interaction with an engaged and experienced faculty. Applications for the first cohort are open.
The program is part of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences housed in the Beaver College of Health Sciences (BCHS), which is shared with five other departments with multiple undergraduate and graduate degree programs related to health and well-being. Levine Hall is a state-of-the-art teaching facility with over 200,000 square feet of educational, experiential and research space that is currently home to over 3,700 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Occupational Therapy program will partner with the Blue Cross NC Institute for Health and Human Services Interprofessional Clinic, where students will benefit from observing and assisting faculty engaged in clinical service provision.
Learn more about the course of study.
Program Accreditation
The MSOT Program at Appalachian State University is currently in Eligibility Status for accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. In December 2023, the program will submit an application to achieve Candidacy status. The initial accreditation process will be ongoing through the first two years of student enrollment which is a typical timeframe for new programs.
ACOTE program letter to prospective students.
Program to help address OT shortage in rural NC, welcomes first cohort in fall 2024
June 10, 2022
Beginning in fall 2024, Appalachian State University's new Master of Science in occupational therapy (OT) program will help address a critical lack of occupational therapists in Western North Carolina.
The program, to be offered through the Beaver College of Health Sciences' new Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, received approval from the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors in April.
"This program will not only help meet critical rural health care needs," said App State Chancellor Sheri Everts, "but it will also help ensure that students who live in North Carolina and wish to be occupational therapists are able to receive a cost-effective master's degree that will allow them to live, work and practice in our state."
Why Choose App State's OT Program?
Choosing to study occupational therapy at Appalachian State University provides:
access to the resources of a leading university and highly innovative Beaver College of Health Sciences
a cost-effective education delivered in as efficient a time frame as possible
engagement with experienced faculty with a range of educational, clinical, and community practice backgrounds
access to a state-of-the-art simulation lab to promote collaboration with other health disciplines
an interprofessional education and practice program in which students can earn three digital badges to augment their professional portfolios
the opportunity to study in the scenic North Carolina High Country