Masters in Occupational Therapy Program (Starting Fall 2027)

The University of Minnesota graduate OT program uses a hybrid educational approach that blends distance (technology-enhanced) and on-site, face-to-face instruction and interaction with other students and faculty. Within the curriculum, students participate in experiential opportunities to apply knowledge from the classroom coursework into traditional and emerging practice contexts. Students will learn online through interactive asynchronous and synchronous instruction methods as well as come to campus for varying amounts of time each semester, for face-to-face sessions, that allow for interaction with faculty and students as well as application of skills for occupational therapy service delivery. 

The University of Minnesota’s Occupational Therapy Masters in Occupational Therapy (MOT) program prepares students to understand, analyze, synthesize and apply content about occupational therapy within a variety of practice contexts including hospital, school districts, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, home health, outpatient, and community emerging setting.  Courses align to the program's curricular threads that emphasize active and lifelong learning, innovation and collaboration, professional and ethical presentation, evidence based critical thinking when serving persons, communities, and populations.

This MOT program is a full-time, year-round program that is 80 credits and completed in 21 months (5 semesters). Throughout each semester, students participate in experiential learning opportunities, first Level I fieldwork (Semester 1, 2, 3) and then Level II fieldwork (Semester 4 and 5) that allow for hands-on, active application of the OT process.  Level II fieldwork will be full-time experiences for a total of 24 weeks. Throughout the program students are provided with individualized faculty and student service advisement to support professional and academic goals as they progress through the program course work and experiences. 

Semester 1: 

Students begin the program learning  foundational concepts about how occupations impact the health and wellbeing of persons, communities and populations as well as building their professional identity and therapeutic relationships. Students also start building their evidence-based practice skills learning how to search, analyze, and synthesize existing evidence related to occupational therapy practice. 

Semester 2 and 3: 

Students progress into the practice related classes building upon their foundational coursework and experiences in from Semester 1. Practice courses focus on the OT process and occupations spanning child, youth, adult, and older adult populations. Students also build upon their evidence based practice skills to progress to building and supporting implementation of new knowledge related to occupational therapy practice. 

Semester 4 and 5: 

Once students have successfully completed all didactic courses from Semester 1-3 as well as Level I fieldwork experiences, students progress to their Level II fieldwork experiences. During this time, students participate in two, 12 week duration, full-time Level II fieldwork experiences to bridge their knowledge and skills from the classroom into practice. During this time students are supervised and mentored by licensed occupational therapists in traditional or emerging practice settings.

In Semesters 1-3, students participate in a series of professional development courses that prepare them for navigating various systems and roles within occupational therapy. In this course series, students will develop and implement a professional development plan that supports individualized profession and wellbeing goals development and attainment.