On Monday, August 1, 2022, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) will begin accepting applications to enroll in its inaugural School Occupational Therapy (SOT) class, which is slated to begin in August 2023.
PNWU’s SOT will offer both an entry-level Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (MSOT) degree and a post-professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate (PPOTD) degree. Approximately 40 students will be selected for the program, which has been designed to attract a diverse group of students who have a desire to help others live life to its fullest.
“The need for occupational therapists in our local rural and medically underserved communities is significant, and that makes this achievement even more meaningful,” said the program’s Founding Director, Heather Fritz, Ph.D., OTR/L, CHC. “We are one step closer to being able to address that need.”
The SOT will recruit individuals from rural and medically underserved communities, or those with a desire to work in those communities. Additionally, explained Dr. Fritz, the new program seeks applicants displaying compassion and humanity – characteristics synonymous with the OTs PNWU aims to graduate. “We want people who are intellectually curious,” explained Dr. Fritz. “People with diverse life experiences who honor that diversity in others. We need critical and reflective thinkers who want to connect with others in a meaningful way.”
In addition to a mission-minded recruiting approach, PNWU’s SOT will offer low student-teacher ratios, real-world, hands-on learning every semester, robust mentoring, the ability to work with and learn from the community, a curriculum focused on the health of rural and medically underserved communities, and the ability to participate in high impact research.
“As critical members of the interprofessional team, OTs enable us to bring more services to rural and medically underserved communities,” explained Dr. Michael Lawler, president of PNWU. “They know how to work with all people of all ages, both in the clinic and in the community, involving all activities of daily living.”
“Occupational therapists are the future of healthcare,” he added, “and our SOT’s potential to impact the physical and behavioral health of our communities is boundless.”
University leaders hope PNWU-SOT graduates will not just deliver high-quality occupational therapy services, but serve as leaders, scholars, and change agents in communities throughout the Pacific Northwest. “Placing graduates in rural and medically underserved communities helps address service gaps,” said Dr. Fritz, “but placing leaders, scholars, and change agents in communities is how you ultimately revolutionize community health.”
PNWU’s five-state region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska) generally has lower access to occupational therapists than the national average based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics Location Quotient. A Location Quotient (LQ) of less than 1.0 indicates an occupation is less prevalent in the area than the national average while a LQ of greater than 1.0 indicates an occupation has a higher share of employment than the national average. As of May 2021, the LQ for occupational therapists for Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Montana was less than 1.0.
PNWU’s Student Learning Collaborative (SLC), which is actively being constructed as the most prominent building on the university’s Yakima campus, will serve as a hub for the SOT. The 80K-square-foot SLC will include advanced medical simulation training spaces and a collaboration-enabling environment, enhancing the interprofessional opportunities available on the budding health sciences campus.
PNWU was founded by a group of visionary community leaders in 2005 with a singular mission: to educate and train health care professionals to care for rural and medically underserved communities throughout the Northwest.
More information about the application process, the school, and the faculty can be found here.