Be extraordinary at creating the everyday
Help make 'everyday life' achievable for people facing difficult challenges. To do so is truly special.

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What does an occupational therapist (OT) do?

OTs help people participate more fully in everyday life. For example, things like eating an ice cream cone , putting on your favourite clothes, getting ready to go to school or work can be easy for you but difficult for a client of an OT.

Can do

OTs take a very practical approach to a patient’s needs. They sit with them and show them how to do things in a manner suitable for the patient. This is all about encouraging an 'I can do' attitude. As an OT you will be concerned with bringing opportunities to people, finding ability and matching skills. OTs will change the environment rather than trying to change the person. OTs also work in conjunction with other people – for example, an OT could consult with parents of a child with a disability to allow them to take on more effective parenting roles.

OuT and abOuT

You find OTs in many places – in schools, nursing homes, private homes, community centres. In your role you may work with anybody who for any reason needs assistance coping with everyday life, with family members, with employees etc. An example of what you may do is help someone who’s had a serious accident relearn to live with their environment, or change their environment to better meet their needs.

See improvements over time

Contact with patients is ongoing. As a result you’ll get to see the gradual improvement and know you had a role to play in that. People often thank their OT for making a real difference as they have been given back their lives. This is really satisfying.

Clinical and professional fieldwork

A number of clinical and professional fieldwork opportunities are scheduled as part of your course. This will give you the hands-on experience with real clients in a supervised environment to allow you to combine the academic sections of your course with the practical abilities required of the OT profession. Some of the clinical and professional fieldwork sites that students have attended previously include:

• Aged Care & Rehab Service, Camden Hospital
• Blue Mountains Child Development Unit
• Giant Steps
• Port Macquarie Base Hospital
• Prince of Wales Hospital
• Schizophrenia Fellowship
• The Spastic Centre
• WorkFocus

There are a number of essential requirements that students need to prepare for before attending any site for clinical and professional fieldwork. Further information on these and more is available at our Clinical & Professional Fieldwork website.

Course completion requirements

192 credit points: students are to complete as required the core and elective units of study shown in the Table of units of study for the degree as set out in the Faculty of Health Sciences handbook.

On campus attendance pattern

Full time

End qualification

Bachelor of Applied Science (Occupational Therapy)

Professional recognition

This degree is accredited by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists and meets the professional entry competency standards of the Australian Association of Occupational Therapists (OT AUSTRALIA)

Course structure

Course level

Bachelor

Honours availability

Additional honours course

Handbook website link

http://www.usyd.edu.au/handbooks/handbooks_admin/health_science.shtml