Bachelor of Science (Occupational Therapy)

Course Overview

Occupational Therapy is an interesting and rewarding career. Occupational Therapists aim to enable people to participate in the activities of everyday life. As an Occupational Therapist you will work in partnership with individuals, families and communities to enable them to participate more fully in their daily ‘occupations’. ‘Occupation’ is the term used to describe all the ways in which we occupy our time – the tasks and activities essential for daily life – washing, dressing, feeding and moving around, as well as the more complex areas of working, leisure, socialising and managing finances and home. Illness, trauma or social disadvantage can result in difficulties in these areas. Occupational Therapists design and deliver intervention programmes to address these difficulties. They also work with individuals and groups to adapt daily life activities to promote better health, prevent ill-health and maintain health and flourishing as much as possible.

As an Occupational Therapist, you could work in a large variety of settings and with many different individuals and groups. Occupational Therapists work in hospitals, primary care, community care, rehabilitation services, disability network teams, schools, industry, academia, healthcare management and administration, community/voluntary organisations and in private practice. They work across the lifespan from neo-natal services to older age and across all types of health and social concerns – from specialist neuro-rehabilitation to primary care, to mental health and to homelessness services. The BSc (Occupational Therapy programme at the University of Galway will prepare you for wherever you wish your career in Occupational Therapy to take you.

In the programme, you will study modules relating to the structures and functioning of the human body and mind (such as Anatomy, Physiology and Psychology. You will have specialist Occupational Therapy modules in many different areas of practice (such as Physical Disability, Paediatrics, Older Adults, Neurology and Mental Health. You will learn how to provide a high-quality, evidence-based healthcare service through modules in Management, Evidence-Based Practice, Research and Fundamentals of Occupational Therapy.

Our WFOT accredited and CORU regulated programme includes over 1000 hours of Practice Education, where you will spend time in healthcare settings under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist. Your four placements will be in different healthcare areas across the country and you will get experience in all the key areas of practice.

Minimum Grade H5 in two subjects and passes in four other subjects at O6/H7 Level in the Leaving Certificate, including Irish, English, another language, Mathematics, a laboratory science subject (i.e. Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Physics with Chemistry (joint) or Agricultural Science) and any other subject recognised for entry purposes.

Career Opportunities

Occupational Therapy graduates are in high demand in Ireland, especially as new clinical programmes are being developed. Our graduates will be in a position to work as CORU-registered Occupational Therapists in a variety of settings and with a variety of patients/clients including:

• Hospitals
• Community Rehabilitation Services
• Mental Health Services
• Child and Adolescent Services
• Voluntary Organisations
• Community Disability Network Teams
• Private Practice
• Primary Care teams
• Industry

International opportunities

Occupational therapy graduates are in high demand worldwide. The BSc (Occupational Therapy) programme in the University of Galway is accredited by the World Federation of Occupational Therapy. This means that graduates can practice in settings across the world, although each country will have its own entry requirements – sometimes including an exam.

Work placement

All students are required to complete 1000 hours of Practice Education successfully under the supervision of a qualified occupational therapist. Practice education is a process of work-based learning which involves a partnership between the practice educator and the student in the practice setting. Practice education takes place in 1^st year (1 week), Semester 2 of 2^nd year (8 weeks), Semester 2 of 3^rd year (8 weeks) and Semester 1 of 4^th year (2 x 8 weeks). Students may be required to undertake practice education anywhere in Ireland in order to give them a variety of experiences.