奥塔哥理工学院

Make a difference in people's lives. Become an occupational therapist and help people achieve independence, meaning and satisfaction in their daily activities.

As an occupational therapist, your focus will be on ensuring individuals, groups and populations within the community can do the things that are important to them. You will work with people who have had illness, injury, or a disability, and with a range of ages from the newborn to older people.

Why study occupational therapy with us?

You'll gain high-quality skills through a blend of online learning, face-to-face teaching, real-life scenarios and interactive group/community experiences. Embrace the chance to undertake five occupational therapy fieldwork placements in a wide range of settings so you can develop your practice ability to a high standard by working with people.

Exactly the same programme is delivered from both Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin and Hamilton-based at Wintec City campus so you can enrol in the campus of your choice.

Our highly-regarded Bachelor of Occupational Therapy leads to professional registration in New Zealand and is recognised by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists.

Bridging options: If you don't have the academic qualifications required to enter the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy, our health bridging certificate can help you meet the minimum academic criteria for application. This year long programme is replacing the Certificate in Health (Level 4) from February, 2018. It consists of two separate Certificate qualifications - the New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation (Level 3) and the New Zealand Certificate in Study and Career Preparation (Level 4). You will be enrolled in both of these qualifications at the beginning of the year.

Please note: Due to the high demand for places, successful completion of our health bridging certificate will not automatically guarantee entry to this degree.

Further study options: Increase your career prospects with any of our postgraduate Occupational Therapy programmes. Students who achieve a B grade average in the Bachelor of Occupational Therapy degree are eligible to complete a Bachelor of Occupational Therapy (Honours).

How you will study: This is a three year, full-time qualification which uses a variety of teaching methods including the blended learning approach. This approach incorporates face-to-face lectures and tutorials, real-life scenarios, interactive groups, community experiences and online learning. You will be required to study for approximately 20 hours on campus per week and the expectation is that you will participate in a further 20 hours of self-directed learning. You will identify your learning requirements and find the best ways to meet these needs, with the support of academic staff and your peers.

The Bachelor of Occupational Therapy programme is delivered at two campuses, Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin and Wintec City campus in Hamilton. You can enrol in the campus of your choice, knowing that you will experience the same learning/teaching methods.

Delivery: On campus with five fieldwork placements in a wide range of settings; four of these are likely to occur outside of the Dunedin or Hamilton area.