Graduate Programs

Master of Occupational Therapy

The Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) program is an entry-level program for Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs) with bachelor’s degrees who would like to become registered Occupational Therapists (OTRs). Students will attend five semesters of blended instruction, combining online with on-campus delivery, followed by two, twelve-week Fieldwork experiences. These courses and fieldwork experiences allow the student to graduate with the MOT degree, and to sit for the National Board of Certification for Occupational Therapy registration exam. Students who obtain a passing score on the exam will become registered occupational therapists (OTRs), eligible for state licensure.

Students will be admitted to the COTA-to-MOT hybrid program once a year in the Fall semester.

Mission

The University of Texas at Tyler’s Master of Occupational Therapy program is committed to providing access to a high quality occupational therapy program for individuals seeking to enhance their professional development, broaden their perspectives and enrich their lives. We are committed to providing students education rooted in occupation and driven by client needs and evidence based practice. Faculty and students engage in creative scholarly inquiry, innovative knowledge translation and community-based service that promotes health and wellness through occupational therapy practice.

The MOT program has identified the following goals:

• Maintain and pursue excellence in teaching
• Role model occupational therapy practice and professionalism.
• Create and value opportunities to support lifelong learning.
• Participate in university and community service.
• Build partnerships with healthcare providers.
• Promote scholarly work production and dissemination.
• Establish student organizations within OT program.

Program Philosophy

Recognizing that occupation is essential throughout the human life span, it is incorporated within the beginning, middle, and end of each UTT-MOT student’s educational experience. We believe in the art and science of occupational therapy practice, and seek to facilitate development of necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes in our graduates to enable culturally-sensitive, ethical, holistic, client-centered, evidence-based practice.

Program Overview

• The UTT-MOT is an entry-level program; however, all students admitted to the program will be licensed, experienced Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTAs). Experienced COTA MOT students possess foundational experiences in occupational therapy practice and prior knowledge that shape both the student and the educator. Students will be engaged in advanced clinical reasoning and critical thinking processes that build upon their prior knowledge and skill sets, and will be challenged to develop enhanced capacity for reflective practice.
• The UTT MOT program integrates current theories of adult learning and engagement throughout the MOT’s student academic experience to foster academic achievement in students.
• The UTT MOT program supports self-directed learning through active engagement in academic and scholarly activities in classrooms, community and online learning environments. Students will be challenged to construct new understanding of foundational knowledge obtained as part of their OTA educational experience. The triad of classroom, lab and community experiences allows for an authentic focus on real-world learning and client interface that promotes transfer of didactic knowledge to current and emerging practice settings as students respond to each individual client’s complex need for participation in meaningful occupations to promote occupational therapy outcomes.

The entry-level occupational therapy master’s degree program at UT Tyler has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its Web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must complete an on-site evaluation and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.

Graduation Requirements

• All academic courses must be completed within no more than 36 months.
• All fieldwork experiences must be completed within 24 months of academic coursework completion.
• Students must meet the academic requirements of the Graduate School throughout their course of study in the MOT program.

Admission Requirements (Please read carefully as some requirements have changed.)

• Completed online application to UTT graduate school
• Baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution completed prior to application
• One year full-time experience as licensed COTA (or 1500 hours) ompleted prior to application
• Overall GPA of 3.0/4 calculated on last 60 credit hours
• Completed Recommendation Form from two licensed OTs with documented supervision of applicant
• Current resume
• Current COTA licensure
• Completion of all prerequisite courses with a grade of B or higher prior to application
• Prerequisite Form
• Documented acceptable Graduate Record Exam score within previous 7 years (GRE scores not required if applicant has an earned graduate degree from a regionally accredited academic institution)
• Successful completion of on-campus interview

Important Dates

• Applications for Fall 2021 will open in mid-October, 2020
• Application deadline: March 1, 2021
• Decision deadline: May 1, 2021

Who can apply

• Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTA)s

Course Information

• Required Courses
• Prerequisite Courses (17 hours) must earn a grade of “B” or better in each course

Course Prefix	Course Number	Title	SCH
PSYC	4311	Abnormal Psychology	3
PSYC	2320	Lifespan Developmental Psychology TCCN: PSYC 2314	3
BIOL	2101	Anatomy & Physiology I Laboratory TCCN: BIOL 2101	1
BIOL	2301	Anatomy & Physiology I TCCN: BIOL 2301	3
BIOL	2102	Anatomy & Physiology II Laboratory TCCN: BIOL 2102	1
BIOL	2302	Anatomy & Physiology II TCCN: BIOL 2302	3
MATH	1342	Statistics TCCN: MATH 1342	3

 

Application Deadline: March 1, 2021

Application Instructions:

• Apply at The Graduate School
• Submit official transcripts and GRE scores to Graduate Admissions Office*
• Submit resume to ogs@uttyler.edu
• Fill out Prerequisite Form
• Have referrers submit reference forms to ogs@uttyler.edu
• After March 1, 2021, application materials will be reviewed, and interviews scheduled on an individual basis.
• Final admissions decisions will be made by May 1, 2021.

*Official transcripts should be sent to:

                Office of Graduate Admissions
                3900 University Blvd, STE 345
                Tyler, TX 75799

Electronic transcripts must be sent directly from the issuing institution to ogs@uttyler.edu.

For more information, contact Diane Brown, PhD, OTR at dbrown@uttyler.edu