OTD Curriculum Themes
In alignment with the values and mission of Rutgers, the School of Health Professions, Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, Occupational Therapy Doctoral program, and the state of health care, our core program themes and goals serve to anchor our courses, clinical fieldwork experiences, service and community-based learning and research. Attention is given to occupation-based, community-based practice and expanding practice that will link our faculty’s programs of research, teaching and service. Each thread is associated with specific learning outcomes that students achieve by the conclusion of their studies.
The program goals represent six curricular threads, or broad themes of study:
Ethics, Justice and Care
Occupations, occupation-based practice and occupational engagement
Leadership, advocacy and collaboration
Community-based and contextual practice
Rigorous inquiry, scholarship, and innovation
Therapeutic processes appropriate for contemporary and future practice
In alignment with the values and mission of Rutgers, the School of Health Professions, Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Science, Occupational Therapy Doctoral program, and the state of health care, our core program themes and goals serve to anchor our courses, clinical fieldwork experiences, service and community-based learning and research. Attention is given to occupation-based, community-based practice and expanding practice that will link our faculty’s programs of research, teaching and service. Each thread is associated with specific learning outcomes that students achieve by the conclusion of their studies.
The program goals represent six curricular threads, or broad themes of study:
Ethics, Justice and Care
- Ethics refers to the values, motivation, and principles that shape behavior within the practices of individuals, professions, and across organizations. Justice refers to ensuring the protection of human rights, and equal access to occupational participation regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, demographic characteristics or other situational factors. Care refers to an embodied motivation, values, practices, and relational capabilities in forming the response to the needs of others to promote human wellness
Occupations, occupation-based practice and occupational engagement
- Occupations represent the deceptively simple activities, and routines that human beings do every day. These occupations and patterns of occupations vary across the lifespan, by individuals, groups and communities and are situated in life contexts. Over the lifespan everyday occupations can support and disrupt routine, support and disrupt meaning and purpose in daily life, and both favorably and unfavorably influence health and well-being.
Leadership, advocacy and collaboration
- This theme addresses the importance of collaboration, vision, communication, and lifelong professional development in carrying out effective professional relationships and enacting leadership roles. Leadership in this view, focuses on the habits of character, service, innovation, and wisdom, applied to informal, emergent, and traditional leadership roles. Supervision and management of personnel and programs, stewardship of resources homo professional development and innovation in practice areas of emphasis.
Community-based and contextual practice
- This theme recognizes the interaction of social, political, economic, cultural, physical, and temporal contacts on occupational engagement. It focuses on the concept of community as it influences and is influenced by participation in occupation for individuals and groups.
Rigorous inquiry, scholarship, and innovation
- Inquiry is fostered through the understanding of various research methodologies, the applications of those methodologies to practice and active engagement in scholarly endeavors. The skills of inquiry are applicable to issues of scholarship about occupation, evidence-based practices, and the ongoing systematic appraisal of the relevance of those practices to individual clients as well as the communities and context in which they participate.
Therapeutic processes appropriate for contemporary and future practice
- Therapeutic processes address the methods of thought, action and interaction employed by occupational therapists while engaged with clients in the process of assessment, intervention planning and implementation and evaluation of therapeutic outcomes. It includes the use of models of practice, assessment, intervention techniques, collaborative relationships, and clinical and creative reasoning to engage clients in successful and satisfying return to meaningful occupation and/or an improved quality of life.