A Message from the Department Chair

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Department of Occupational Therapy website at Thomas Jefferson University (TJU). As you know, the world of healthcare is a rapidly changing environment, filled with new breakthroughs on what often feels like a daily basis. The faculty and students in the Department are aware and attentive to these changes and are creating new practice models to meet healthcare demands and opportunities. We are committed to designing and developing innovative program ideas and treatment strategies that address the occupation-based needs of patients and clients. Some examples of our commitment include coursework that provides our students with program development skills to serve health care and community agencies interested in including occupational therapy services. Other examples of our emphasis on innovation and development include a faculty and student group testing the effectiveness of treatment interventions with people who have dementia and research about the individual experience of having a traumatic brain injury.

The hallmark of our program's curriculum has always been a focus on occupation. The current trend toward community-based practice is also a longstanding focus within our Department. These two key elements combine to produce an exciting curriculum that prepares students for occupational therapy practice.

With an eye to the future

As Stephen Covey (1989) stated: "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." At TJU we are inventing our future in occupational therapy by involving ourselves in dynamic OT practice, research, and education. Such as:

• Program development: Life Skills for people in homeless shelters; Violence prevention among at-risk adolescents
• Research on the experiences of diverse populations of persons with disabilities (e.g., those with traumatic brain injury, caregivers of persons with dementia)
• Innovative courses on occupational science; adapting the environment; and many others!
• Specialty concentrations for graduate study in community health and participation, older adults, early intervention and school age practice, and sensory integration.

Please visit our faculty web pages and our research projects for more information about our exciting program. Occupational Therapy is undergoing tremendous renewal as a profession, and our program at Jefferson is on the leading edge of the future.

Janice P. Burke, OTR/L, PhD, FAOTA
Professor and Chair