Welcome to the Division of Occupational Therapy
Student Performance Assessments Contribute to Student Success
Educators are charged with creating learning experiences that provide depth of learning and approximate “real-world” practice. The Division of Occupational Therapy at the University of Utah has answered this charge by putting into place a series of learning activities known as Student Performance Assessment (SPA). Occupational therapy students demonstrate competency with practice assessment skills in a simulated evaluation environment three times throughout the program. The SPA experiences build on the courses in which the students are enrolled concurrently. The faculty designed each successive SPA to test an increasingly complex set of skills as the students gain knowledge throughout the curriculum. SPA’s consist of each student interviewing and/or performing part of an evaluation with an actor assuming the role of a person with a disability or a caregiver. The actors are trained by the faculty to perform the role based on a case study. The assessment is viewed by a faculty member, and the student is given feedback on their performance. This allows students to experience an initial client meeting prior to starting their level II fieldwork. As the Division grows, we will continue to develop our SPA program and challenge our students to become better practitioners.
The SPA is a valuable part of the program and gave me the opportunity to practice real-life therapy skills. The experience of
watching myself on camera gave me new insights on my strengths and weaknesses and has supported my development as a therapist. -Rachel Mitchell, Class of 2012
The SPA is a love/hate relationship. You hate and fear it as you prepare, but once you're done, you realize how valuable it is in terms of the gathering the whole clinical picture, using your clinical reasoning and going through the complete evaluation process. -Rachelle Stoneking, Class of 2012
The SPAs really seem to prepare students to be able to approach clients and work with them right away. -Bonnie Larson, Intermountain Medical Center
- Jeanette Koski, MS, OTR/L
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WHO ARE WE?
As the only accredited occupational therapy program in Utah, the Division of Occupational Therapy offers a number of compelling advantages.
Our master's program has earned strong national reputation as a leading-edge program that offers the best and the newest in curriculum, skills and research. What better way to make a living than to help people of all ages learn or reclaim skills for the job of living?
For those who are already occupational therapists, we now offer a post-professional clinical doctorate in occupational therapy (OTD). This is an on-line program that can be done either full-time (2 classes per semester) or part-time. Earn your OTD, build your skills as a leader and specialize in an area of interest through this program.
Please explore our website to learn more.
For NBCOT Program Statistics, please visit Our Graduates.
