Brunel University London has become the first university outside of the United States to be granted accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education – the US agency setting standards in the field since 1923.
Brunel’s Occupational Therapy (Pre-Registration) MSc provides a Master's level route for graduates to become competent occupational therapists. The course, led by Dr Anne McIntyre, is also accredited by the Health Care Professions Council and Royal College of Occupational Therapists here in the UK.
Occupational Therapy is a highly valued profession, with research from Johns Hopkins University showing that it is the only health service to save acute hospitals money by being the key service to facilitate patients’ discharge. It also prevents re-admission by supporting people to stay safe, healthy and independent at home.
The ACOTE submission was made by Dr McIntyre and Priscilla Harries, Professor of Occupational Therapy at Brunel and Head of Clinical Sciences. They both undertook ACOTE training in the US to take the programme through the two-year accreditation process.
Occupational Therapy at Brunel (based within the Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Health and Life Sciences) is one of the largest, longest established, and most highly regarded departments of its kind in the world, with its roots as the London School of Occupational Therapy which started in 1934.
Undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes are designed and taught by Occupational Therapy experts who are nationally and internationally recognised, and use their research and practice expertise to ensure that teaching is evidence-based, current, and closely linked to practice demands.
In December 2016 the MSc was granted pre-accreditation status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). Following an on-site evaluation earlier this year, it has now been given full accreditation status for the next seven years – a landmark achievement for a UK university programme.
Brunel was found to meet all ACOTE’s 180+ standards for accreditation, the system which recognises educational institutions which have a level of performance, integrity, and quality entitling them to the confidence of the educational community and the public they serve.
Professor Priscilla Harries, who is also the Chair of Research for the Royal College of Occupational Therapists comments: “We are immensely proud to be able to hold the prestigious status awarded, and will endeavour to continue to uphold the ACOTE standards, alongside those of HCPC and RCOT, to the very best of our ability.”
For more information on Occupational Therapy at Brunel, visit: www.brunel.ac.uk/Occupational-Therapy
Find out more about the MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-Registration): www.brunel.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/Occupational-Therapy-Pre-Registration-MSc
(Image: A recent Occupational Therapy Open Day at Brunel)
Reported by:
Sarah Cox,
Media Relations
sarah.cox@brunel.ac.uk