About Occupational Therapy

About Occupational Therapy

The Occupational Therapy Program is housed in the College of Health Professions and Social Work at Temple University. Located on the Health Sciences Campus, centered at Broad and Ontario Streets in North Philadelphia. The College of Health Professions also includes the departments of Communication Sciences, Health Information Management, Nursing, and Physical Therapy, Public Health, and Rehabilitation Sciences. CHPSW shares the campus with the School of Dentistry, the School of Pharmacy, and the School of Medicine as well as Temple University Hospital, Temple University Children's Medical Center, and Shriner’s Hospital for Children.

The Occupational Therapy Program has six full time faculty. The department offers two degree programs, the Master of Occupational Therapy (M.O.T.) and the post-professional doctorate in occupational therapy (D.O.T)as well as post-professional specialty certificates. The M.O.T. program is for individuals with a baccalaureate degree in a related field. Students commence the M.O.T. program in July. (apply here). The post-professional Master of Science is open to applicants who are certified as occupational therapists. Applications for the post-professional program are processed on a rolling basis.

Temple University's programs in Occupational Therapy have been renowned for the clinical expertise its graduates bring to the professional setting for the past 35 years. We are recognized as a leader in Occupational Therapy education. We are ranked in the top programs in this country, by US News and World Reports.

The entry-level occupational therapy master's degree program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. ACOTE's telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA. Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certificiation 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, most 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.