Occupational Therapy, M.S.

You want to enrich the quality of life of your patients. We will provide the tools necessary for you to gain the skills to help individuals achieve independence in all facets of their lives.

Please note: Lenoir-Rhyne will increase enrollment in the Occupational Therapy program at the Hickory campus and pause admission to the OT program at our Columbia location beginning in fall 2025.

This will not affect the enrollment or education of the two cohorts of OT students who are currently enrolled in Columbia. They will continue their program and graduate from the Columbia location.

After completing your master's degree, you will be ready to help others maintain the daily skills necessary for independent and satisfying lives.

To practice as an occupational therapist (OT), you must obtain a master of science degree. Our 63-credit hour program, made up of two academic years and two summer sessions (24 months), combines rigorous academic coursework, extensive laboratory experience and hands-on clinical practice through integrated fieldwork.

Request Information

Take the next step toward completing your Master of Science in Occupational Therapy at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Occupational therapy assist a client during a site visit

Prepared Practitioners

Through our program, you will become a reflective practitioner who responds adaptively to individual, community and societal needs.

Our vision is to develop the occupational therapy practitioners of tomorrow who exude steadfast loyalty to the value of human occupation in providing evidence-based, culturally competent and clinically-sound care to all populations.

We offer one cohort in Hickory, N.C. and another in Columbia, S.C. The program vision, curriculum and student learning outcomes are identical for both sites, incorporating strategic use of interactive video networking for dynamic learning to promote the achievement of student learning outcomes between cohorts.

You are welcome to apply to both sites, but, if you apply to only one, please know we reserve the right to offer you a seat to either location.

You will be a skilled professional, educated in the study of human growth and development, with specific emphasis on the social, emotional and physiological effects of illness and injury.

Our program begins with foundational, active, inquiry-guided learning, and continues to provide increasingly more complex experiential learning experiences that allow you to investigate your world, adapt to continual change, and serve individuals, communities and society with caring and ethical practices.

Graduates of our program learn to:

Provide ethical and unbiased services to diverse populations,
Understand how setting or context changes OT roles, goals, and supervisory responsibility,
Demonstrate a general knowledge as skilled and caring clinicians,
Respond adaptively to situations,
Meticulously investigate their world and knowledge base,
Advocate the value and efficacy of occupational and occupational therapy services to clients, funders, and other professionals,
Apply theory and evidence to current and future cases.

The program provides you with opportunities and challenges that focus on occupation as the fundamental value central to the development of your professional identity and practice.

Information Sessions

Attend an information session to learn more about our program. Occupational therapy faculty and admission staff will provide detailed information about our program and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions.

Upcoming Sessions

I gained essential hands-on experience during my occupational therapy internships, which helped prepare me for providing acute inpatient rehabilitation as an occupational therapist.

Hailey Venable MS'18

NBCOT Certification Results

Students who successfully complete the master’s degree program are expected to demonstrate the competencies essential for entry-level practitioners, as designated by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).

Most states require that occupational therapists obtain a license before they may practice. Initial state licenses are issued on the basis of National Board for Certification Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) certification and verification of completion of all academic and fieldwork requirements by an accredited program.

For additional information, visit www.aota.org or www.acoteonline.org or contact the AOTA at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929; 301.652.2682.

*ACOTE standard A.5.6 now requires reporting of the number of new graduates (within 12 months of graduation) who have passed the NBCOT Certification Exam.

Program Outcomes-Data represents the Calendar Year

National Board for Certification Occupational Therapy Certification Results
-5	Graduation Year	Number of New Graduates Taking Exam That Year	Number of New Graduates Passing The Exam	Percentage of New Graduates Passing The Exam	Students Entering/Graduating	Graduation Rate
-4	2023	77	73	95%	76/77	99%
-3	2022	73	66	90%	78/68	87%
-2	2021	85	85	100%	79/79	100%
-1	Total 3-year	235	224	96%	233/224	95%

National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT®) Program Data Results

Program Requirements

Offered in Hickory and Columbia

All OT courses and fieldwork Level II experiences must be completed prior to graduation. Verification by the school chair and registrar is required to take the national certification examination.

Accreditation

The Occupational Therapy Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE c/o AOTA),7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD, 20814, telephone (301) 652-6611, Web site: www.acoteonline.org) The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) is located at One Bank Street Suite 300 Gaithersburg, MD 20878; (301) 990-7979; www.nbcot.org. A felony conviction may affect a graduate's ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.

Lenoir-Rhyne University's School of Occupational Therapy was reaccredited by ACOTE on November 30, 2018, for a period of seven years for academic year 2018-2019 to 2025-2026.

Mission Statement

The Vision of the School of Occupational Therapy is to develop the OT practitioners of tomorrow who exude steadfast loyalty to the value of human occupation in providing client-centered, occupation-centered, professionally-engaged and evidenced-based care to all populations. The Mission of the LR OT program is to develop effective, empathetic, and impactful occupational therapists who contribute to the well-being and occupational engagement of individuals and communities.

Program Admission Requirements

Visit Graduate Admission for the most current Program Admission Requirements.

Prerequisite Requirements

Master's degree applicants must present evidence of completion of all prerequisite courses and undergraduate degree before the start of the program. Prerequisite completion must be within 5 years of the application date. The areas of competency are covered in the following courses or their equivalents completed within the last five years: Anatomy and Physiology I and II with labs, Statistics, Introduction to Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Introduction to Sociology or Introduction to Anthropology and Medical Terminology.

Required Courses

Graduate Admission & Financial Aid