Bachelor's Degree in Occupational Therapy Programme description

The main goal of occupational therapy is to promote health and quality of life through meaningful activity and participation. People who have, or are in danger of having, difficulties performing daily tasks are an important target group. This includes play, work and leisure activities. Occupational therapy also focuses on health-promoting work focusing on the general population.

Occupational therapists work both at the individual and system level in many fields of the municipal and specialist health services, with a focus on health promoting, preventative, rehabilitative and habilitative work and treatment. Occupational therapists also work with different user groups of all ages in various public and private services, for instance nurseries, schools/education, NAV (The Norwegian Labour and Welfare Administration), rehabilitation institutions, occupational health services and user organisations.

Occupational therapy draws on occupational science, which demonstrates the link between activity, participation and health. The focus is on daily tasks and other activity that is important and meaningful for our health, well-being and development in all phases and stages of life. Activity is seen as an interaction between people, activities and surroundings. All people choose activities based on opportunities, interests, will, habits, roles, values, culture, belief in our own mastery and ability to carry out activities of daily living. Activity is deeply ingrained in the fabric of society and must be seen in relation to individual, local and global factors.

Occupational therapists conduct activity analysis and functional assessments to define opportunities for and limitations to activity. Goals and measures, which are undertaken and evaluated in close cooperation with the users, are then planned. An important part of the work is to facilitate learning. Occupational therapists are therefore required to possess educational competence in counselling and guidance. Relational and cooperation skills, and communication and writing skills are basic conditions for the profession.

The educational aspect of occupational therapy is based on the socio-cultural learning perspective that views knowledge as socially and culturally constructed. Relationships and interactions between people are the basis for learning. This means that knowledge changes and is maintained in a historical, cultural and social context in interactions between individuals. A good programme quality means organising the course of study in such a way that it gives room for interaction, dialogue and common knowledge and skill development in all phases of the programme. The students are therefore presented with different educational approaches. These approaches encourage the development of knowledge, skills and competence through good communication, active participation and interaction with lecturers and fellow students, combined with individual studies.

Central to the practical training periods is the interaction with users and other professionals. In order for the bachelor students of the health and social care subjects to have a common frame of reference for the development of knowledge and attitudes, all Norwegian programmes in the humanities and social sciences field have some common content. The aim is to educate reflected professionals who are capable of planning and organising comprehensive measures in cooperation with users and other service providers through interprofessional cooperation pursuant to the Norwegian Health Personnel Act.

The programme description was established under the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, the national curriculum for occupational therapy and the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University. It complies with the recommended guidelines for study programmes issued by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT) and European Network of Occupational Therapy in Higher Education (ENOTHE).

The study programme has a total scope of 180 credits. Students who complete the bachelor's programme are awarded the degree of Bachelor in Occupational Therapy, which forms the basis for authorisation as an occupational therapist in accordance with the Act relating to Health Personnel.

Praksisstudiets innhold skal gjennomføres i nært og forpliktende samarbeid mellom praksisbarnehager, praksislærere i barnehagen, studenter og faglærere på universitetet.

Praksisstudiet er en obligatorisk del av studiet og det er krav om 100 % tilstedeværelse.

Praksisstudiet vurderes til bestått/ikke bestått.

Det er praksislærer som vurderer praksisperiodene.

I heftet "Informasjon om praksisopplæringen" vil innhold, fokus og oppgaver i de enkelte praksisperiodene bli beskrevet nærmere. Heftet publiseres på universitetets digitale læringsplattform.

Practical training is an important part of the programme and corresponds to 45 credits. The students will undergo a practical training placement for the purpose of developing new knowledge, skills and competence through direct contact with users. Based on theory and experience gained earlier in the study programme, the students will immerse themselves in theoretical and practical knowledge that is important in the professional field. The students will also learn about occupational therapy methods and gain experience from working with occupations and activity issues in various user groups in and outside of an institution.

There will be a short practical training period in the first semester to introduce the occupational therapy profession early on in the programme (course ERGO1000). Longer placements will take place in the second and third year in order for students to develop action competence in situations that are authentic for the profession in a participatory and committed manner. The students are supervised by an occupational therapist.

The occupational therapy programme emphasises a global and international perspective. Development of the teaching and research takes place through international cooperation.

The programme has exchange agreements with partner institutions abroad. The students can go on an exchange stay in the sixth semester. The duration of the stay will be from twelve weeks to six months. The exchange is linked to theoretical studies, practical training and the bachelor's thesis. Reference is made to the criteria that apply to student exchanges and stays abroad.

The course IPH3000 International Public Health is taught exclusively in English, and all the course literature is in English, while the students can choose whether to take the exam in English or in Norwegian.

Students with a particular interest in internationalisation can undertake different activities during the programme with an international and multicultural angle, leading to the qualification "Certificate of International Learning" (CIL).

Required coursework is all types of work, tests and compulsory attendance that are requirements for a student to be assessed/permitted to take the exam. If coursework requirements have not been met during the practical training, it may be registered as failed and count as one attempt at passing the course. Required coursework is assessed as approved/not approved. The coursework requirements for each course are described in the relevant course description. The programme has coursework requirements in the form of compulsory attendance, written assignments and a multipe choice test. 

Compulsory attendance

A minimum attendance requirement of 80% applies to all parts of the programme where the students cannot achieve the learning outcomes on their own. Therefore, compulsory attendance requirements may apply to lectures, introductions to courses and topics, group work, supervision, skills training, seminars and presentations of different types of work. Other activities may also be subject to compulsory attendance requirements. Please see the course descriptions for more information on compulsory course activities.

The minimum attendance requirement for practical training courses is 90%. Students are themselves responsible for ensuring that they meet the attendance requirements.

If a student exceeds the maximum limit for absence, the programme will consider whether it is possible to compensate for absence by meeting alternative requirements, for example individual written assignments. Whether or not it is possible to compensate for absence depends on the extent of the student¿s absence and which activities they have missed. Absence from compulsory teaching that cannot be compensated will normally cause a delay in the student's advancement in the program.

Written assignments

The coursework requirements for the course ERGOPRA2 are written assignments. Written work that is not approved must be improved before re-submission. If the coursework requirements are not met during the placement, it will normally be registered as failed and count as one (1) attempt at passing the course. Failure to submit compulsory written work by the deadline counts as one attempt at having the required coursework approved.

More detailed requirements for written work, deadlines etc. are set out in the course description and teaching plan.

Multiple choice test

In the course ERGO1100 Anatomy and Physiology, students must perform an individual multiple choice test.

If the test is not approved, the student must re-take the test. The student is entitled to two attempts before the ordinary exam and an additional third attempt before the resit/rescheduled exam.   

Non-approved coursework requirements may delay the student's advancement in the program.

The assessment arrangements are intended to assess the students regularly throughout the programme in order to promote learning, while also providing information to the programme and the student about study progress and the results achieved.

The assessments are carried out in accordance with the applicable rules set out in the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges, the Regulations Relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet, and the Guidelines for Appointment and Use of Examiners at OsloMet.

The programme has an external programme supervisor who contributes to quality assurance. The external programme supervisor is charged with evaluating the programme's structure and coherence, including the relationship between the learning outcomes as described in the programme description, the work and teaching methods and assessment arrangements. The external programme supervisor should normally supervise all the courses in the programme over the course of a three-year period and provide feedback and advice that the academic environment can use in its further work on the quality of education.

Assessment of practical training

The student´s presentation in the practical training courses ERGOPRA1, ERGOPRA2 and ERGOPRA3 will be assessed as pass/fail. Detailed provisions on the criteria for passing are specified under each course in the programme description and in the teaching plan for the course.

Examination

All courses conclude in an exam or a final assessment. All courses have required coursework that must be approved before the student can take the exam/undergo final assessment. See the course descriptions for more detailed provisions.

Resit and rescheduled exams are carried out in the same manner as the ordinary exam unless otherwise specified in the course description.

All detailed information about the exam will be provided in the guidelines for the individual exams well before the exam date.

For courses where a percentage of the exam papers are randomly selected for assessment by an external examiner, the external examiner's assessment shall benefit all the students. In such cases, one external and one internal examiner will first grade the selected papers. The internal examiner then continues grading the rest of the papers individually or together with another internal examiner. The assessments from the first part are summarised to serve as guidelines for the internal examiners.

The grade given for a written exam can be appealed, cf. Section 5-3 of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges and Section 7-3 (2) of the Regulations relating to Studies and Examinations at OsloMet. It is not possible to appeal the grades awarded for oral and practical exams. For a group exam, the result of an appeal will only have consequences for the candidates who submitted the appeal. This means that all members of the group do not have to participate in the appeal.

Suitability

Diplomas for the completed programme will only be awarded to graduates who are suited to practise the profession. A student who represents a potential threat to the life, physical or mental health, rights and security of his/her patients, clients and users is not suited for the profession.

Suitability assessments are made on a continuous basis throughout the study programme, and will be included in the overall assessment of the students' professional and personal suitability for work as health personnel. Students who demonstrate little ability to master the occupational therapy profession must be informed of this at the earliest possible stage of the programme. They will be given supervision and advice on how to improve, or be advised to leave the programme. Special suitability assessments are used in special cases, cf. the Regulations concerning Suitability Assessment in Higher Education.

Information regarding the programme description

Adopted by the Board of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences on 10 May 2011.

Most recent amendments adopted by the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences on 11 February 2019.

Applies for the academic year 2019-20.