Overview
At its core, occupational therapy aims to enable all people with different abilities to live meaningful lives. The goal of occupational therapy intervention is to promote wellness and participation by supporting independent function, enhance development, and prevent disability and/or handicap by promoting a balance between the client's occupations in self-care, productivity and leisure. Using a client-centred model and the most recent evidence, occupational therapists work with people of all ages, from infancy through midlife to old age, to navigate physical, emotional or social barriers. Occupational therapists can work with individuals, groups, communities and organizations.
With its energetic, dedicated faculty and tradition of excellence in education, research and service, the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy will prepare you to become an innovative healthcare practitioner. Small discussion groups, an interdisciplinary focus, varied clinical fieldwork placements, and opportunities for undergraduate research experience will help you gain the skills necessary to establish yourself as a highly competent, lifelong learner able to meet the standards of the profession.
This undergraduate program is a 90-credit degree that provides you with a basic health sciences foundation and undergraduate level courses specific to the practice of Occupational Therapy.
Careers
Becoming an occupational therapist holds excellent job prospects. With a rapidly aging global population, demand for occupational therapists will continue to increase over the coming years.
This degree provides access to the Professional program, a 63-credit Master of Science (Applied) in Occupational Therapy. Once you complete the Master of Science (Applied) in OT, you are eligible to apply for licensure to practice as an Occupational Therapist.
You could work in diverse settings including:
Home and Community:
Home care, private practices, health boards, community mental health centres, clinics, halfway houses, groups homes, vocational programs, community action groups, and workers compensation boards.
Institutions:
Hospitals, intermediate and long-term care facilities, rehabilitation centres, nursing homes, mental health centres, correctional institutions, recreation centres, schools, universities and colleges, research centers.
Industry and business:
Corporations, rehabilitation companies, insurance companies, and architectural firms.
Government:
All levels of government advising in the areas of health promotion, disability prevention/management, accessibility, vocational/health planning and international rehabilitation program development.
Source: Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
Courses
As an Occupational Therapy student, you will take courses like:
Faculty
The McGill Occupational Therapy Program faculty are a combination of professors, clinicians and researchers in the field who teach the latest evidence-based material to future health care professionals. Many of our faculty are involved in active research programs.
Student experience
Students in the undergraduate physiotherapy program at McGill have a unique opportunity to learn with occupational therapy students as the two programs are housed in the same buildings. The buildings are situated on the upper campus, a few meters away from walking paths to Mount Royal.
The Physical and Occupational Therapy Undergraduate Society (POTUS) is an active student-operated council organizing student social events as well as events linking professors and clinicians in the field of occupational therapy.
This program is also offered by extension at the Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC).
Related majors
Discover related majors:
Ready to apply?
For this program, you'll need to apply to the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy.
See the full eligibility information for more information about deadlines and required documents for your application.