Technical Standards

Occupational therapy is a mentally, physically, and psychologically demanding profession. Students who graduate from the Occupational Therapy program must be prepared for entry into the practice of medicine within post-graduate medical education training programs. As such, in addition to meeting academic criteria, each applicant to and student in the  Doctor of Occupational Therapy program must demonstrate that they possess independent ability, aptitude, and skills to meet the non-academic criteria an occupational therapist must possess in clinical practice.

These Technical Standards must be met with or without accommodation and are essential for admission to, promotion within and graduation from the Occupational Therapy program.‌

The program, like the profession and the university, is committed to inclusive opportunities for all. Individuals with unique backgrounds and needs are encouraged to apply and are not required to disclose the nature of their educational and participation needs. 

Deficiencies in knowledge, skill, judgment, integrity, character, and/or professional deportment which may jeopardize patient safety and/or care may influence academic and fieldwork success, application and acceptance to take the national certifying examination, and possible dismissal from the program. 

Communication skills

The ability to communicate is a cornerstone in the effective implementation of occupational therapy service. Occupational therapists must be able to understand others, be understood, and use communication skills to gather and share information. 

Occupational Therapy program students must be able to effectively:

• Respectively communicate in oral and written English with diverse populations (e.g., speech volume, articulation, cultural sensitivity).
• Interpret nonverbal communication of others and understand how one’s own nonverbal communication is understood by others.
• Understand and follow verbal and written instructions (e.g., learning activities, patient care, infection control and prevention protocol).
• Quickly gather information and convey meaning in academic, clinical, and scholarly settings individually and in small and large groups (e.g., communicating efficiently and clearly with the medical team; communicating data appropriately to clients and team members [fellow students, physicians, nurses, aides, therapists, social workers, and others]).
• Establish rapport and convey compassion and empathy for clients (e.g., gathering a thorough occupational profile from clients, employing client-centered care, maintaining therapeutic relationship).
• Communicate accurately and legibly in writing (e.g., student learning outcome products [papers, exams], client observations, plans of care, progress notes).

Observation and interpretation skills

Observation and interpretation require the functional use and analysis of visual, auditory, and somatic information.

Students must be able to attend to, observe, and interpret:

• Live and virtual class instruction, including associated printed reading, illustrated, graphic, and projected materials.
• Lab demonstrations (e.g., clinical techniques, anatomical structures, and body movements).
• Laboratory specimens (e.g., donor bodies, laboratory-dissected prosections).
• Clinical instrumentation and observation of assessment results (e.g., dials and digital displays [sphygmomanometers and stethoscope], digital and waveform readings [electrocardiograms], graphic images, human performance).
• Safety and accessibility of clients' physical environment and the interaction within it (e.g. visual acuity and depth perception for scanning safety considerations within the physical environment and changes in patient condition [lines and leads, color changes, facial changes], auditory capacity to respond to electronic signaling and faint body sounds, and tactile skills to detect vibration, temperature and texture changes, and differences in surface/tissue characteristics(e.g., skin integrity).
• Observe client function near and at a distance.
• Emotional affect, nonverbal cues, and responses to interaction and intervention of both individual clients and groups of clients.

Intellectual abilities and critical reasoning skills

Conceptual, integrative, and quantitative abilities in critical reasoning and problem solving are required for academic and clinical success in occupational therapy. Occupational therapy students must synthesize, analyze, and interpret large volumes of information from multiple sources and form decisions efficiently and effectively in academic and clinical environments.

Occupational Therapy program students must be able to effectively:

• Attend to and analyze concrete, abstract, and theoretical information to inform and articulate rational for sound decision making in cademic and clinical environments.
• Identify, measure, calculate, and synthesize information to establish and test clinical and scholarly hypotheses.
• Acquire, merge, retain, and apply information learned from instruction, literature, written material, peers, practitioners, and clients to support patient care (e.g., conduct evaluation and gather assessment data, develop plan of care, safely implement intervention).
• Critically evaluate one’s own performance and communicate the limits of one’s knowledge to others.
• Recognize potentially dangerous situations and equipment and proceed safely to minimize risk of injury to self or others.
• Engage in self-reflection and apply the feedback of others to promote personal and professional growth and development.

Motor skills 

Occupational therapy students require sufficient sensory motor function to safely engage clients in evaluation and therapeutic activity.

Occupational Therapy program students must be able to effectively:

• Engage for up to eight hours in prolonged sitting, standing, and mobilizing within academic and clinical settings (e.g., traverse uneven terrain, balance, twist, lean, lift arms over shoulders, pull, push)
• Execute movements required to engage in active classroom learning and provide therapeutic care (e.g., setting up and moving equipment, positioning clients for engagement in therapeutic activities, lifting and transferring clients, facilitating client mobility using mobility aids, orthotics, and prosthetics, provide emergency treatment [fall guarding, rescue breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation]).
• Lift and carry up to 25 pounds.
• Manipulate assessment tools (e, g., goniometer), adaptive equipment, and therapeutic media of varying size and weight (e.g., grasp with hands/fingers, twist, manipulate small objects, orthotic fabrication).
• Safely handle lab and patient materials and fluids (e.g., lab specimens, wound care, urine, blood.

Professionalism

Occupational Therapy professionals must have effective interpersonal skills and ethical reasoning. Honesty, integrity, compassion, and respect for the concerns of others are key aspirational values of the occupational therapy program.

Occupational Therapy program students must be able to effectively:

• Demonstrate compliance with standards, policies, and practices set forth in the Graduate Catalog, the Academic Student Handbook, and the Occupational Therapy Code of Ethics.
• Respect the dignity, rights, property, and confidentiality of others.
• Collaborate respectfully with peers, faculty, staff, colleagues, and care team.
• Take responsibility for professional competence, conduct, and growth.
• Demonstrate consistent, professional work behaviors in academic and clinical settings.
• Monitor and react appropriately to one’s own emotional needs and responses.
• Engage appropriately in advisory and supervisory processes.
• Display appropriate flexibility and adaptability in the face of stress or uncertainty.
• Establish interpersonal rapport with academic and clinical faculty, peers, and clients to promote the development of productive and trusting relationships.