BSc (Honours) Occupational Therapy (practice based learning)

27 months full-time

UCAS code • Not applicable

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This course

Practice-based learning is a style of learning for students who already have some experience of working in health and social care. It builds on skills and knowledge you already have.

This course is suitable if you have around two years experience in a health and social care role, such as
• occupational therapy support worker in the NHS
• community care officer in social care
• a similar job in a caring working environment

It is an intensive, full-time 27 month course which has been designed to help people with existing experience progress in their careers to become a qualified occupational therapist. It was developed in partnership with the East Midlands Strategic Health Authority, now known as East Midlands Local Education and Training Board.

Practical, work-based modules form a large part of your work. You work with patients on a clinical placement in East Midlands for three days a week. The remainder of the time is spent in class with lecturers or studying using self-directed learning.

The course is taught entirely in Lincolnshire, at Grantham hospital and on clinical placements in the area. You are taught by both Sheffield Hallam lecturers and experienced occupational therapy practitioners.

This course helps you develop your career. Since the course started in 2005, the majority of our graduates have entered jobs as qualified occupational therapists. Others have gone on to work in third sector organisations.

Find out more about BSc (Honours) Occupational Therapy (practice based learning)

Home environment room

Interprofessional learning

Lecturer receives honour

How to apply

Complete the application form available at www.shu.ac.uk/study/form

Fees – home and EU students

2013/14 academic year

The Strategic Health Authority (and from 1st April 2013, the East Midlands Local Education Training Board) fund the University fees for this course. They also provide a contribution towards salary support, which is currently £13,917 a year. The exact amount to be paid will be arranged between you and the Trust.

The course fee may be subject to annual inflationary increase. For further information on fees and funding see www.shu.ac.uk/study/ug/fees-and-funding

Assessment

• written papers and projects • presentations • portfolios • group work • interactive assessment • assessment of practice during placements

Course enquiries

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Professional Recognition

This course is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). Graduates are eligible to apply to register with the HCPC and can apply to become members of the British Association of Occupational Therapists and College of Occupational Therapists. You must be registered with the HCPC in order to practise as an occupational therapist in the UK.

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Home environment room

The home environment room in our Robert Winston Building gives our students realistic workplace training.

Claire Craig receives the highest honour from the College of Occupational Therapists

Claire Craig, fellow of the College of Occupational Therapists

A Sheffield Hallam researcher and lecturer in occupational therapy has completed a rare double by achieving the highest honour awarded by her professional body.

Claire Craig has become one of only 86 people to become a fellow of the College of Occupational Therapists, the highest honour the organisation can give.

It follows Claire becoming a National Teaching Fellow in last year's National Teaching Fellowship Scheme awards, and success in the University's own Inspirational Teaching Awards in which she was nominated by students for her approach to learning.

Claire is actually the second Sheffield Hallam lecturer to receive the fellowship, following Dr Sarah Cook, a fellow reader in occupational therapy, in 2010.

Claire, originally from Royston, Barnsley and now living in Hoylandswaine, said: "This really is an exceptional honour for me and it is great to be recognised by my peers. It also shows the strength of the occupational therapy provision at Sheffield Hallam as I am the second person to receive the fellowship, and there are only 86 in total across the UK."

Naomi Hankinson, Chairman of Council, British Association and College of Occupational Therapists said “It gives us great pleasure to award this Fellowship to Claire in recognition of her outstanding work.

"Claire is a talented and inspirational educator who generates and implements innovative ideas in education and practice.

"Much of her work centres on the important role that occupational therapy plays in the well-being of older people and people with dementia. She is a wonderful ambassador for the profession both here and abroad.”

Last year, Claire was one of just 55 winning lecturers and learning staff chosen from hundreds of teaching fellow nominations made by Higher Education Institutions across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The awards scheme, run by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), recognises and rewards excellent learning and teaching.

Claire is a researcher in Lab4living within the Art and Design Research Centre as well as teaching in Health and Wellbeing. The focus of her research and teaching is around active ageing and people with dementia.

This led to previous external recognition in 2010, when she received two awards from her professional body.

Claire Roebuck

BSc (Honours) Occupational Therapy

I decided to train as an occupational therapist because I had worked with children for around eight years and felt that I needed a new challenge. I still wanted to work with people but also wanted a career that I could develop. I visited a local careers advice centre and was introduced to the idea of occupational therapy. As soon as I found out more details I knew it was for me. There is such wide scope and you can work with so many people. The fact that you work with people to help them do what they want is the key thing I fell for!

The best thing about the course is meeting lots of new people and opportunities to go on placements. You gain such insight to the different lifestyles that people lead and the way they 'just get on with things' when faced with difficult times and situations. I learnt so much about myself and other people it's unbelievable, I felt like I had really grown as an individual throughout the course.

I completed four placements during my training • community rehab team • acute elderly inpatients • community paediatrics • adult's inpatient mental health

Placements are absolutely essential, you cannot prepare for the work we do without having completed placements. They allow you to gain first hand experience of the types of environments that we work in and to meet people that you may one day be working with.

Placements give you the experience and confidence you need for when you go out into 'the real world’ of occupational therapy. I am currently a Band five rotational occupational therapist, working for Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I have worked for the trust for three years since September 2009. I have just started my 6th rotation. My responsibilities are to independently complete OT assessments and interventions in order to meet people’s needs and wishes. I work with the MDT to assess people’s needs and ensure that they are discharged in safe and timely manner. I manage my own caseloads and supervise team members. I am a member of the clinical governance group and try to keep up to date with new initiatives and guidelines that will affect the Trust and our service.

I enjoy everything about being an occupational therapist!! I just love being able to find out about people and support them in being able to achieve their wishes. I enjoy working as part of a team to work towards individuals goals and help promote their quality of life. Sounds cheesy I know but that really is why I do what I do.

Elizabeth Schofield

Bsc (Honours) Occupational Therapy

'I always knew that I wanted to work in a health care profession and read about a number of nursing and therapy roles which interested me. I chose occupational therapy (OT) because I liked the idea of being able to work holistically with clients and patients and I liked the idea of being able to help people with day to day tasks which some of us take for granted. I visited my local hospital OT department to speak to some of the qualified OTs there and eventually managed to gain employment as an OT assistant. I enjoyed this work very much and felt that the next logical step would be to apply for the course to become a qualified occupational therapist.

'What stand's out from the course for me were my practice placements. These were my opportunity to put into practice all the theory I had learned in the classroom. I thoroughly enjoyed all of my placements and felt that this was my area to shine, as I found the academic work more of a challenge. And it is the placements that really prepare you for getting a job.

'I also enjoyed the course community. People helped each other out and supported each other throughout the course and I met many of my best friends on the course as a result.

'My community placements were in a mental health team and intermediate care, and my hospital placements were on general medical and cardiopulmonary wards, and a stroke rehab ward. I felt that I had a good variety of experiences. It was useful to be able to see a variety of OTs in practice and consider different ways of working. And this enabled me to consider my own work style and approach to clients.

'I currently work for the Community Learning Disabilities Team in Sheffield as a band 6 OT. I love working with this client group as there is so much variety in the sorts of things we get involved in. There are a number of specialist areas within the field of learning disabilities and I have had fantastic training opportunities to enable me to work effectively with this client group. I now supervise junior staff and I regularly take students on placements. I am also able to take opportunities to develop areas of the service and make a difference to the way the service is run.

'I love that I am able to work in a client centred way and that I am able to consider all aspects of each of my client’s lives. For people with a learning disability, there isn’t always a cure for what is causing their difficulties. This can be a challenge when working with this client group but it makes me think creatively about each piece of work I do. I am given the freedom to try out my ideas, and I am supported enough to feel confident in my decisions.

'I love meeting new clients and I enjoy the challenge of forming a rapport in order to have an effective working relationship with my clients and their support networks. In my current role, I am also able to work with some of my clients over several months, which means I get to know them and their families really well, which can be a real privilege.

'One thing that I found really useful when I was on the course is how easy it was to make contact with my tutors. They were always happy to meet me in person or have a phone call so that I could discuss any worries or queries about my assignments. I always felt really supported by the tutors.

'My personal tutor, Clare Craig, was also great. She used to arrange regular tutor group meetings so that we could get together and eat chocolate cake and be able to talk freely about the course and any general worries we had. It was nice to do this as a group because we could support each other. However we were also able to arrange individual sessions which at times were invaluable to me, especially when the end of the course was approaching and I needed help to prepare for job interviews.'