I believe that Queen’s University’s dynamic curriculum has helped me meet and exceed professional and practice standards. My fieldwork experiences combined with my studies have given me the opportunity to acquire the knowledge, skills, competencies, and professional behaviours necessary for practicing in today’s complex and everchanging healthcare system. 

The following is a description of the course that have helped advanced my professional practice:

OT-821 Occupational Therapy Theory, Process and Professional Practice: 

This course introduces the central construct of occupation, the relationship of occupation to health and well-being, models of occupation, processes of occupational change, and the historical development of occupational therapy theory. The course will examine occupational therapy practice in the context of the Canadian health care system, enablement and client-centered practice, professional identity and governance,  professional ethics and the evolving public/private sector.  The stages of the occupational therapy process and legitimate occupational therapy skills will also be introduced.  

OT-823 Disability Theory:

This course introduces the concepts of disability, citizenship and societal participation. Conceptual frameworks of disability and issues and implications of disability will be discussed along with Canadian health and social policies relating to people with disabilities. 

OT-825 The Lived Experience of Disability:

In this fieldwork course, pairs of first year students meet with a volunteer from the Kingston community who has a disability. The goal of this unique learning relationship is to improve students’ understanding of disability and facilitate their embracing the concept of client-centred practice whereby a client’s life experiences are acknowledged and they become partners in the occupational therapy process. 

OT-841 Socio-cultural Determinants of Occupation:

This course will examine the social and cultural nature of occupation. Students will analyze the relationship between occupation and such socio-cultural components as values and belief, time use, roles, habits, expectations and norms and explore how occupational therapy interventions based on this understanding could lead to changes in occupation. This course will also examine contemporary views of spirituality in occupation. The importance of occupations to society will also be addressed.

OT-843 Physical Determinants of Occupation:

This course will introduce students to the study of movement of the human body as it relates to occupation. It will have an emphasis on biomechanics and the components of the motor system as determinants of motor performance in occupation. Evaluation methods and modalities used in physical rehabilitation will be studied. The course will also focus on the application of physical rehabilitation methods used in occupational therapy practice by understanding musculo-skeletal conditions and occupational therapy interventions at the level of impairment and activity limitations.

OT-844 Cognitive-Neuro Part I:

This course emphasizes the neuro-physiological organization of motor behaviour, sensory-motor integration, and the dynamic nature of the central nervous system. This course will provide a foundation for evaluating occupational performance from perception to action. It will focus on evaluation and intervention approaches for cognitive-perceptual and motor control problems at three levels: impairment, strategy and function. Attention will be given to secondary motor performance problems.

OT-848 Cognitive-Neuro Part II:

Using knowledge of human development and systems theory, this course builds on Cognitive-Neurological Determinants – Part I by providing students with the foundational knowledge to understand human development and to identify factors influencing performance and participation for children and adolescents who experience atypical development. Evaluation and intervention approaches at the level of impairment, activity limitations, and participation restrictions will be explored by considering the context of service provision and the diverse roles of Occupational Therapy practitioners in collaboration with families and other service providers.

OT-845 Psycho-emotional Determinants of Occupation:

This course will focus on the psycho-emotional determinants of occupation as a framework for understanding how humans are inherently motivated for occupations. The intrinsic factors and learned responses associated with occupation will be examined and students will apply and evaluate applications of psycho-emotional theory in contemporary occupational therapy practice.

OT-851 Therapeutic Relationships:

This course focuses on the development of communication skills within the context of client-centred occupational therapy practice. The critical elements of the therapeutic relationship will be developed through interviewing and assessment strategies. This course will make extensive use of supervised video taping, and interaction with community volunteers through the Clinical Education Centre. In addition, students will gain experience in professional communication skills. 

OT-853 Coaching and Counseling for Occupational Change:

This half course consists of both theoretical background preparation and practical experiential learning opportunities to introduce occupational therapy students to selected talk- based interventions available for enabling occupational fulfillment and change (coaching, counseling and psychotherapy).

OT-871 Advanced Clinical Reasoning:

This course provides opportunities for students to develop advanced clinical reasoning skills applicable to all areas of occupational therapy practice. Based on the occupational therapy process, students will develop skills of critical thinking and inquiry.   

OT-875 Advanced Professional Practice:

This course is designed to provide students with opportunities to acquire an advanced understanding of the roles, rights and responsibilities incumbent with becoming an Occupational Therapist. Particular attention will be given to the legal and ethical parameters of practice, professional contributions and responsibilities within complex and changing environments and career development as advanced healthcare professionals. Course content is designed to be responsive to the shifting practice environment and offer students an opportunity to synthesize learning from other courses within the curriculum.

OT-898 Critical Enquiry Project:

Students will work with a faculty supervisor to complete a critical enquiry project. The project will enable students to apply critical inquiry skills by participation in an area of clinical investigation and to examine the relevance of findings to clinical practice.

All course descriptions were obtained from Queen’s University’s School of Rehabilitation website: http://rehab.queensu.ca/assets/OT’16%20Class%20_%20Course%20Descriptions%20prepared%20for%20website%20until%202015-16%20Calendar%20gets%20posted%20mid%20June%202015.pdf