Occupational Therapy BSc (Hons)

Course content

This three-year BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy degree involves four successive practice placements with a total of 1,000 hours, which represents approximately a third of the programme.

Year 1

In Year 1, you will be introduced to the history, concepts, principles and theories of occupational science and occupational therapy, at the same time building a foundation of biological and biomedical scientific knowledge.

We’ll examine therapeutic communication, ethical practice in health and social care and relevant legislation and standards of practice. You will start to engage with sources of evidence and research for occupational therapy and occupational science. You also will complete your first practice placement.

In doing so, you’ll start to develop a range of essential skills for working with service users, such as maintaining dignity and confidentiality, developing effective observational and communication skills, learning to appreciate cultural and ethical issues, as well as health and safety, such as infection control procedures.

Our Essentials for Allied Health Professionals programme brings together students from Occupational Therapy, Healthcare Science, Physiotherapy, Diagnostic Radiography and Radiotherapy and Oncology to work together, so you can begin to appreciate the concept of multidisciplinary healthcare teams.

Year 2

In year 2, you will advance your knowledge, practical and research skills through your studies and on practice placement. You will learn to implement a range of occupation-focused interventions for people with different needs across the lifespan and in diverse contexts.

Year 3

The final year will focus on expanding your leadership and reflection skills as well as opportunities for service development and innovation within contemporary practice settings. You will also conduct a research project, relevant to occupational therapy practice or theory and complete your final two practice placements in the programme.

Placement

The variety and volume of placement opportunities we offer is what students tell us they like most about our course – practice placements are undertaken in a variety of health and social care environments, including acute NHS hospital trusts, community-based services, mental health services, social care and children’s services.

The supervised, hands-on experience you get with service users and patients on placement is the best way to consolidate your learning. You will gain experience of working as part of a team, demonstrating professional behaviour and implementing a range of occupational therapy assessments and interventions.

Over the three years of the programme, you will be expected to undertake a minimum of 28 weeks of placement, with full-time working hours. On placement, you are supervised by a practice educator who will facilitate your learning.

You receive support from your University link tutor who will meet with you at least once during the placement and provide support as needed. You should be prepared to travel for your placements within the London/Greater London area.

Below are some examples of where our students have attended practice placements.

• Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust
• Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust
• Enfield Community Services
• Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust
• Islington Community Rehabilitation Services
• South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust
• South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust
• Southend University Hospital NHS Trust
• St Georges University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Vauxhall City Farm and Randall Close/Leonard Cheshire
• West London Mental Health NHS Trust

This list is subject to change and should be used as a guide of where students may be able to go.

Facilities

Based in the thriving multi-cultural hub of Tooting in South West London, our location has the added advantage of being just a short tube ride from Central London and all the city lifestyle has to offer.

We also have a range of specialist health and academic facilities to support your learning, listed below.

The Art of Living Suite

This specifically designed teaching facility for occupational therapy has adapted, functioning kitchen and simulated bathroom facilities, in addition to specialist equipment so that you can practise assessment and intervention skills.

Anatomy suite

The anatomy suite is where present and future healthcare professionals and scientists in the hospital and University learn or expand on their anatomy knowledge directly from the human body, through access to high quality anatomy resources.

These include plastinated (preserved) specimens, osteological materials, anatomical models and digital/imaging resources such as Anatomage tables and Complete Anatomy.

Pathology museum

Our on-site museum houses a collection of over 2,000 pathological specimens, including a number of original specimens donated by Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie in 1843.

This space is used for small group tutorials by students across all of our courses as an educational tool to help you understand the mechanisms of disease.

Library and learning technology

Our modern health sciences library offers a wide range of books, e-books, academic journals and other resources to support you.

You will also have access to online resources, such as the Canvas virtual learning environment and our Hunter discovery service to help you find the information you need.

The library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and comprises silent, quiet and group learning areas, as well as four group discussion rooms.

IT facilities

We have five computer suites housing 260 workstations. Three of these suites are accessible 24 hours a day.

It’s easy to find a free space with our handy real-time computer locator. We also have 75 self-service laptops available.

Free Wi-Fi covers the whole campus, including all accommodation. You can use these resources to access your course materials, discussion boards, assessment and feedback through Canvas.

Student support

Whether you are heading off to university straight from school or college, or returning to education as a mature student, we want to ensure your experience is positive from the outset.

Students frequently tell us they greatly appreciate the diversity of our student and staff body, as well as the patients who access healthcare services in the borough of Tooting. We attract a substantial number – over two-thirds – of ‘mature’ students, aged 21 or over when they start; many have family and caring responsibilities.

We offer a full range of academic support and student services across all institutes, departments and faculties, some of which are listed below.

We take pride in offering a transformative educational experience underpinned by cooperation and collaboration between staff and students.

Our innovative Student-Staff Partnership Grants (SSPGs), for example, provide funding for small projects led jointly by students and staff.

Personal tutor

On arrival, you will be allocated a personal tutor, who is a member of the programme team, someone with whom you can have regular contact, who you ask questions and discuss problems with, both academic and personal.

The main purpose of a personal tutor is to monitor your progress, pick up and help you resolve any problems, whether academic or welfare related.

Even if they don’t have the answer, they will point you in the right direction towards the best people to deal with specific problems.

Induction programme

Within your first week at City St George’s, you’ll take part in an induction programme to help with your orientation and introduce you to various study skills, including interprofessional learning.

Additional sessions provide advice and guidance about the Registry, Students’ Union, personal tutor system, safety, occupational health and sexual health awareness.

Academic staff support

You’ll have access to your lecturers, usually by arrangement via email.

Placement support

Placement in practice is formalised through a placement management agreement. Whilst on placement, an allocated practice educator will facilitate your learning.

One of our occupational therapy lecturers will also be your link tutor and will meet with you and the practice educator at least once during the placement and offer support as needed.

Mums and dads scheme

‘Mums and dads’ is a buddy scheme organised by the Students’ Union. Every fresher (first year student) has the choice of being assigned a ‘parent’ from the year above in their respective course.

The returning student then acts as a ‘go to’ for advice about courses and university life, providing an additional support system during your first year, both academically and socially.

They have been in your position and know the struggles of starting university; they also know all of the best pubs, clubs, restaurants, gyms and will help introduce you to your new City St George’s family.

Student Life Centre

Our Student Life Centre team can help you with almost any aspect of student life: finances, accommodation, exams and assessment, academic procedures, admissions, international queries, careers, disability and wellbeing, even finding your way around – whatever it takes to make you feel at home.

Careers service

Our careers service works to support current students and recent graduates to find and maintain the career of their dreams.

We work with careers tutors from each course area to ensure that careers activities specific to your programmes and future profession come to you.

In previous years, we have held a careers fair for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy students, which has included presentations from occupational therapists from local trusts as potential future employers, as well as opportunities for students to practise various skills in preparation for job applications (including writing CVs and interview skills).

Download course specification:

• Occupational Therapy BSc

On our degree, you will build a portfolio of clinical and professional skills and competencies, to the standard expected by professional organisations.

We pay particular attention to developing your practical skills, for example, learning basic life support, doing wheelchair or sliding board transfers, making splints, building your confidence to deal with patients and relatives.

One of the many benefits of studying at City St George’s is the opportunity to study and work with students on other healthcare-related courses, including Biomedical Science, Physiotherapy, Diagnostic Radiography and Radiotherapy and Oncology, to lay the foundation for future practice as part of a clinical multidisciplinary team.

This collaborative inter-professional education helps you develop invaluable communication and team-building skills and appreciate the roles of other professionals.

Teaching methods include lectures, staff and student-led seminars, tutorials, case-based learning, problem-based learning, interactive workshops, group work, clinical skills training in simulated environments and practice placements.

You will be taught by staff with extensive experience of working in practice, teaching and research, who will share their up-to-date knowledge and experience in specialist areas including mental health, neurology, trauma, orthopaedics, children and families.

Where possible we invite service users or patients to talk to you directly about their own experiences, for example, their lived experience of occupational therapy and the importance of participating in their occupations.

Capitalising on our contacts with a range of organisations, we invite practitioners to deliver teaching sessions on specialist areas of practice (for example, palliative care) and evolving areas of occupational therapy practice (for example, working with refugees).

Assessment

We use a range of assessment techniques, chosen to match the competencies being learned and tested within each module. These include written assignments (essays, posters, presentations, reflective writing, case reports) and practical assessments of occupational therapy skills on placement. Assessed, practice placement blocks take place in all years of study.