Vision and Mission

This section describes the Mission Statement, Educational Goals, Program Philosophy and Curriculum Design of the Occupational Therapy Program at York College.

Mission Statement

To prepare entry-level occupational therapy practitioners to provide services to diverse urban populations utilizing evidence-based education, fieldwork, and community experiences. Graduates will be prepared to grow as passionately engaged learners, growing in intellectual potential, contributing, and participating in the profession through direct service delivery, management of service delivery and research.

Educational Goals

Students demonstrate clinical competencies for entry-level occupational therapy practice.
Students demonstrate clinical competencies for entry-level practice measured by scores on the AOTA Fieldwork Level II Performance Evaluation.
Students demonstrate knowledge and skills to engage in scholarly activity.

Program Philosophy

The York Mission, in the language and form of an educational philosophy state:

" York college enriches lives and enables students to grow as passionately engaged learners with confidence to realize their intellectual and human potential as individuals and global citizens." The Occupational Therapy Program mission is consistent with the York College Mission, in that these two lines of thought emphasize the complexity and dynamic nature of human beings as they learn and develop. Humans interact in varied environments through participation in occupations. Dynamic participation in learning enables individuals to develop the necessary intellectual potential and skills for maturation and self-actualization.

The vision of the occupational therapy faculty for the program recognizes a changing world that requires practitioners to have the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be leaders addressing community and individual health concerns; while at the same time, promoting the human need to engage in life activities and maintaining a quality of life throughout the lifespan. The faculty believe that an individual’s interests and experiences are key elements in learning; that people have an unlimited potential to develop through education. We believe that it is important for learners, graduates, and faculty to recognize the importance of being motivated and self-directed. All individuals, we believe, must take responsibility for their own learning. The conceptual framework that most closely supports this vision and set of beliefs is a combination of “Progressive” educational philosophy.

Outcomes/Goals of Program

As students progress through the curriculum, it is expected that they will intrinsically and extrinsically value the concepts of occupation and activity, not only as each pertains to theories, practices and skill-sets related to this profession, but also as they relate to the process of continuous development and well-being of all humans; thus fulfilling the mission of this professional education program.

The graduating student will have the knowledge, skills and attitude to be an entry level occupational therapist who:

Is educated as a generalist with broad exposure to the delivery models and systems utilized in settings where occupational therapy is currently practiced and where it is emerging as a service.
Has achieved entry-level competence through a combination of academic and fieldwork education.
Is prepared to articulate and apply professional principles, intervention approaches and rationales, and expected outcomes as related to occupation.
Is prepared to be a lifelong learner and keep current with best professional practices;
Is prepared to advocate for consumers and the profession;
Will uphold the ethical standards, values, and attitudes of the occupational therapy profession;
Is prepared to be an effective consumer of the latest research and knowledge bases that support practice and contribute to the growth and dissemination of research and development.

Our goals for our graduates are consistent with both the York College Values and the AOTA Vision. We see our graduates as they go out into the workforce as culturally diverse critical thinkers who can address the needs of a diverse population. In addition, they will continue to engage in ongoing learning, to improve their skills, and contribute to the growth of the profession in practice and/or research in their communities, regionally, nationally and globally

T he Program Outcomes represent and summarize the values the core threads have within the curriculum design and how the philosophies applied are influencing what the faculty within the occupational therapy program wish to promote in the learners.

By the completion of the program at York College Occupational Therapy Program, the Occupational Therapy Graduate is a:

Reflective Practitioner who demonstrates the knowledge, skills and attitudes to provide state of the art occupational therapy services and

Lifelong Learner who actively engages in their communities, and through lifelong learning, helping them acquire knowledge while developing leadership skills to provide more effective advocacy and community empowerment opportunities for those underserved and/or underrepresented members.

Curriculum Design

The curriculum design of York College CUNY Occupational Therapy Program is based on the interaction of content knowledge concepts and occupational therapy process concepts. It is our belief that the interaction of these delineates the substance and the process of what occupational therapists know and do. As the faculty visualized the connection between the guiding principles of occupation, and the established educational and professional philosophies, a program design was created based on the common critical elements of the envisioned philosophies and guiding principles. These critical elements that the Progressive Educational Philosophy and the Occupational Therapy Education Philosophy reflect actually support the development of three core threads that are incorporated and stressed throughout the curriculum:

Procedural Reasoning/Learning (its foundation consists of skills and learning components of: Pragmatic Knowledge; Problem Solving; Experiential and Discovery Learning; Self-Directed Learning; Lifelong Learning)

Democratic Ideals (Social Action - its foundation consists of: leadership roles; advocacy roles; policy level work addressing: community needs; community development; community empowerment); Social Responsibility (its foundation consists of: enhancing occupational performance of communities and its members; social justice; ethical decision making);

Service Competency (its foundation consists of: improved delivery of services (professional and good citizenry service); more effective advocacy for the underrepresented and/or underserved groups)

AOTA Commission on Practice. (2014). Occupational Therapy Practice Framework: Domain and Process, 3 ^rd ed., AJOT, March/April 2014, Volume 68 (Supplement 1) S1-S48.