MOT Mission and Philosophy
Institution Mission
The mission of Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC) is to improve the health of people by providing educational opportunities for students and health care professionals, advancing knowledge through scholarship and research, and providing patient care and service.
Program Mission
The TTUHSC Master of Occupational Therapy program is committed to excellence in student-centered professional education to prepare occupational therapy students with the knowledge, skills, and behaviors essential for entry-level practice in both current and future practice settings. Students develop an understanding of a person(s) from and occupational perspective as they actively engage in opportunities to integrate and synthesize new learning with foundational concepts. The program fosters the development and application of student's clinical reasoning over the course of the curriculum through involvement in active learning, research, and clinical problem solving. This process of reflective practice and critical thinking fosters a spirit of life-long learning.
Philosophy Statement
Beliefs about Humans
Human beings possess a unique array of interests, values, skills, abilities, and experiences which influence the way one perceives, chooses, and engages in various, meaningful activities (also called occupations). Occupations are the ordinary and familiar things that people do everyday. The person's selection of and engagement in these meaningful activities contributes to one's identity and sense of purpose thereby influencing how one spends time and makes decisions.
Beliefs about the Nature of Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy is the art and science of helping people do the day to day activities that are important and meaningful to their health and well-being. Within occupational therapy, engagement in valued occupations is used as a means of treatment as well as the outcome of therapy. Valued occupations encompass the following areas: self-care, learning, work, play, leisure, social participation, and rest.
Occupational therapists work collaboratively with individuals, families, caregivers, and other groups whose life patterns and ability to engage in valued occupations have been altered as a result of various circumstances (i.e. cognitive or developmental problems, injury or illness, social or emotional deficits, or the aging process). The occupational therapist applies their clinical reasoning as they plan, direct, perform and reflect on client care. The focus of occupational therapy is to facilitate the individual's ability to participate in meaningful, purposeful activities (occupations) at home, school, workplace, community, and various other settings.
Beliefs About the Nature of Learning
Human beings learn through and are shaped by experiences throughout their lives. Opportunities for learning occur in many ways, such as acquiring knowledge, skill development, or personal growth. Through these varied experience, changes in a person's knowledge, abilities, behavior, and attitudes occur.
Within the occupational therapy program, we believe that the optimal way to facilitate student learning is through processes involving the development of knowledge and reflective thinking. As fundamental concepts are introduced and reintroduced in increasing complexity, students build skills that will guide clinical decision making. Bloom's level of learning serve as a framework to guide the student learning process. The levels are as follows: knowledge/comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation (Bloom, 1984). Hands on learning, concept mapping, and cognitive reconstruction of their knowledge, skills, and behavior to achieve higher levels of learning that foster clinical reasoning.