Occupational Therapy (OT) is a health care profession that focuses on helping people of all ages regain, develop, or master everyday skills in order to live independent, productive, and satisfying lives.
Our Bachelor of Science (BS) Program in OT requires the completion of 158 credits divided into 5 years (preparatory year, 3 academic years, and internship year). Our accomplished faculty members are nationally and regionally recognized for innovation and leadership in OT education, research, and community service. We prepare graduates who are creative, competent, compassionate and committed to their profession and their country.
Our values reflect an integration of the BMC values, the international values of the OT Practice, and the local Saudi cultural and religious core values. These core values are but not limited to:
CAREER PATH
Children, adolescents, adults, and elderly populations
Occupational Therapists (OTs) help individuals across the lifespan participate in the things they want and need to do through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). OTs serve diverse populations and diagnoses, such as neurological and physical cases, developmental, psychosocial and emotional (mental health), cognitive perceptual, and sensory motor. OTs can also work at different settings.
Psychiatric and mental health hospitals
Occupational Therapists working in the mental health settings focus on enabling individuals to re-engage in meaningful occupations through a variety of skill sets such as skills development, establishing positive habits and routines, setting therapy goals, using cognitive-behavioral techniques (CBT), and understanding underlying physiological influences. Occupational Therapist applies a variety of treatments and services, such as relapse prevention, positive communication, relaxation techniques, anger management, and stress management.
Nursing homes
In a skilled nursing facility, Occupational Therapists tailor their approach to each person, such as older adults. It is common for them to help residents develop skills for what are known as activities of daily living—self-care tasks such as feeding or dressing. Occupational Therapists provide equipment to assist with these activities, modify the person’s environment to maximize independence, and facilitate participation in activities. Occupational Therapist uses different types of activities for treatment, such as self-care skills, exercises to improve strength and movement, adaptive equipment, and safety evaluations in the nursing home.
Learning difficulties “learning differences” centers
Occupational Therapists help children and other individuals with learning difficulties gain independence and develop new pre-academic and academic skills to enable participation in learning and daily activities, such as self-care, play, reading, and writing. An occupational Therapist can help to establish effective routines and break down information into steps that the child will be able to follow attentively.
Centers for assistive technology
An important part of the Occupational Therapy practitioner role, based on observation and evaluation of the client’s performance, is to make specific recommendations for the most appropriate assistive technology to facilitate improved functional ability. Matching the client’s abilities, preferences, environmental contexts, and barriers to the technology device features is a distinct role that Occupational Therapy practitioners can fulfill, and which leads to productive outcomes for their clients.
Work and industry
Occupational Therapists promote success in the workplace by improving the fit between the person, the job tasks, and the environment. They work with employers and employees to adapt or modify the environment or task, facilitate successful return to work after illness or injury, and help prevent illness or injury to promote participation, health, productivity, and satisfaction in the workplace. They may work with children and adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities to help them prepare for work and transition into the workforce. They also provide services related to ergonomics, accessibility, the aging workforce, and workplace health and wellness issues.
CAREER PATH
Rehabilitation centers
Occupational Therapists in rehabilitation medicine focus on maximizing function and independence in daily living skills. Treatment may involve activities to improve arm and hand function, vision, cognition, community reintegration or mobility. Occupational Therapist uses different types of activities for treatment, such as transfers techniques, self-care skills (i.e., dressing or bathing), and hand splinting.
Community-based centers
Occupational Therapy practitioners address barriers to optimal functioning through interventions that focus on enhancing existing skills, creating opportunities, promoting wellness, remediating or restoring skills, and modifying or adapting the environment or activity. One of the Community Occupational Therapists roles is to assess and provide help and information about equipment and adaptations to your home to be as independent as possible with daily living tasks and support carers to make this as easy and safe as possible. They are active partners in community service , public health awareness campaigns, and community-based assessments and interventions.
School-based rehabilitation
Occupational Therapists support a student's ability to participate in desired daily school activities or “occupations.” They help children to fulfill their role as students by supporting their academic achievement and promoting positive behaviors necessary for learning. Occupational Therapist uses different types of activities for treatment, such as sensory motor, activities of daily living and self-care, grasp and handwriting, and classroom modifications.
Halfway homes and de-addiction
An occupational Therapist teaches recovering addicts healthy coping skills as well as alternative methods to manage daily stressors. During addiction recovery, an Occupational Therapist will: evaluate the person and his or her ability to function on a daily basis, assist the client with setting both short and long-term goals for their recovery process, provide ways in which persons can take back control of their life by learning how to manage money, completing daily household chores as well as finding and keeping a job, and assess the risk of the person falling into relapse and coming up with strategies to avoid it.
Academic and research institutions
Occupational Therapy research studies can contribute to the knowledge of human occupation, the scientific evidence of Occupational Therapy, and help generate concepts useful for theory building and in some cases applicable to clinical practice. Occupational Therapists are actively involved in research and education in terms of developing training programs, delivering lectures, writing journal articles or book chapters, and conducting research that is helpful and useful to individuals and community.
Patients homes (homecare)
Occupational therapy practitioners find the right fit between patients' abilities, needed and desired activities, and their home environment so patients can manage safely and productively at home. They are also concerned about their patients' ability to manage their conditions as part of the management of daily activities. Occupational therapy brings expertise to help patients translate "doctor's orders" to manageable daily habits and routines in home and community health settings.
