What Will I Study for an MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration)?

Not every occupational therapist (OT) begins with a long-established career plan. Some arrive from healthcare, education, psychology, or social care. Others discover the profession after years in an entirely different field.

When Yvonne Phelan, Programme Development Lead for Portobello Institute’s MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration), helped shape the programme, she wanted it to reflect that reality: there is more than one route to qualifying as a healthcare professional.

The result is a structured, forward-looking two-year master’s degree that offers:

• The flexibility career changers and progressors need
• The knowledge, skills, and practical experience required for professional practice

As occupational therapy is a regulated profession, the MSc – currently awaiting approval from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) – prepares graduates to apply for registration with CORU or HCPC, depending on where they intend to practise.

So, what exactly does the occupational therapy student journey look like across Year 1 and Year 2 – and why has the programme been developed in this way?

Designed for the OT You Want to Become

Occupational therapy offers opportunities across a broad range of settings and areas of practice, from paediatrics, education, and support for neurodivergent people to mental health, injury rehabilitation, community practice, and older-person care.

The MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration), awarded by Health Sciences University and delivered by Portobello Institute in Dublin, preserves this breadth while enabling students to focus increasingly on their own interests through placements, assignments, and dissertation research.

Yvonne, a CORU-registered practising paediatric occupational therapist herself, explains: “They can really make the end of the course their own and, through their placement preferences, begin to mould the type of therapist they want to become.”

The master’s has been structured to provide close guidance at the outset before giving students greater freedom to explore their interests and shape their professional direction.

“The programme is heavily weighted at the start,” explains Yvonne. “Semester one involves coming in, getting a lot of work done, and having plenty of face-to-face hours.

“That gradually reduces as the modules progress, with more in-depth learning, group work, and self-directed study. It becomes more relaxed and independent as students move towards the dissertation.”

A Modern and Person-Centred Master’s

For Yvonne, the programme's defining feature is its person-centred approach, reflecting the direction of modern occupational therapy.

Rather than responding to a diagnosis with a predetermined intervention, students are trained to look beyond it, considering the individual and the bigger picture.

“We need to look at that individual, understand where they are, how their life has developed, what they already know, and where they want to go next,” Yvonne explains. “Then we match what we are doing to where they need and want to be.”

“The master’s programme handles this really well. Students learn to listen to somebody, collaborate with them, and create goals based on that person’s own interests.”

Can I Study While Working?

Changing career or progressing your studies shouldn’t mean putting the rest of your life on hold. A postgraduate programme is a big commitment, and many students wish to continue working while balancing other responsibilities.

Whether full-time, in-person study suits you or you would benefit more from the flexibility of blended learning – combining weekday evening online classes with scheduled in-person teaching on Saturdays – the master’s has been designed to accommodate different circumstances.

The important distinction, Yvonne emphasises, is that placements remain full-time across both delivery formats.

“Blended learning offers greater flexibility throughout the academic year, making it well suited to those who continue to work,” she says.

“However, placements are full-time, even on the blended learning route. Students will complete around 36 hours each week during these placement periods, so their timetable changes significantly.”

Year 1: Building the Occupational Therapist’s Mindset

While delivery differs between the blended and in-person options, the MSc programme content – and the professional qualification you work towards – is the same.

Yvonne describes the master’s as “front-loaded”. Students hit the ground running in the first semester, with substantial contact time with tutors and close guidance as they adjust to postgraduate study and develop an OT mindset.

What Will I Study in Year 1?

The Year 1 modules are:

• Introduction to Professional Practice
• Occupation, Health and Wellbeing 1
• Foundation Sciences for Health, Wellbeing and Participation
• Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 1
• Occupation, Health and Wellbeing 2
• Occupation, Health and Wellbeing 3

You can find detailed module overviews here.

Across the first year of the master’s degree, students develop an understanding of what it means to think, work, and practise as an occupational therapist and establish the core knowledge they will draw on throughout the programme.

“Students learn the theories behind occupational therapy, why we make particular choices, and how those choices can help people,” explains Yvonne.

They explore frameworks such as the Model of Human Occupation and the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model, using them to understand how a person's motivation, habits, environment, and occupations influence participation and guide intervention.

Alongside theory, you will develop communication, evidence-based decision-making, reflective practice, and collaborative working skills through lectures, workshops, simulation, case-based learning, and practice placement.

“Communication is central,” says Yvonne. “We focus on open listening and open-ended questions, being willing to hear what people think and being open to alternatives or to the reasons they may not want to do something.”

Where Can Occupational Therapy Placements Take Place?

Across the programme, students complete more than 1,000 hours of supervised occupational therapy practice, meeting international professional and regulatory requirements.

In the first year, there are six-week and seven-week placement blocks, with on-campus preparation days and scheduled 36-hour placement weeks from Monday to Friday.

“Our placements are really exciting,” says Yvonne. “Until students are actually on placement, they do not get that real-life view of occupational therapy.”

Students experience a wide range of practice settings, from fast-paced hospitals and community services to neurorehabilitation, equipment provision, mental health, and end-of-life care. Each setting presents different challenges and valuable learning opportunities.

“Paediatrics is an area of occupational therapy that is under pressure in Ireland, so we have a range of really valuable paediatric placements across physical health, mental health, eating disorder services, and school-based practice,” points out Yvonne.

“We then move into adult services. We have hospital placements, which I know a lot of students are interested in. Our community base has also become very strong.

“We have placements in community mental health services that support people to return to everyday life, as well as hospital-based placements in inpatient mental health units and adult eating disorder services.

“Within community physical health practice, students may be involved in equipment and environmental assessments, home adaptations, stairs, wet rooms, housing changes, and end-of-life care.”

Year 2: Developing as an Occupational Therapist

By Year 2, students have built the theoretical foundations, practical skills, and placement experience needed to take greater ownership of their professional development.

Learning becomes increasingly self-directed as you explore advanced practice, research, and innovation. Yvonne says this “growing independence” is intentional. You move towards confident, reflective professional practice.

What Will I Study in Year 2?

The Year 2 modules are:

• Transforming Health and Wellbeing – Advancing Occupational Therapy Research, Practice and Innovation
• Research Methods in Health Science (OT)
• Occupational Therapy Practice Placement 2
• Occupational Therapy Dissertation

You can find detailed module overviews here.

In Transforming Health and Wellbeing, you will critically explore the role of OT in improving health and wellbeing for individuals, communities, and society, while Research Methods in Health Science develops your understanding of the research principles and methods that underpin evidence-based practice.

Two further placement blocks enable you to strengthen your professional reasoning while taking a more active role in assessment, intervention, and collaborative practice.

The dissertation then provides an opportunity to complete an in-depth independent study in an area of occupational therapy that interests you.

Preparing for Collaborative Practice

One of the innovative placement models Portobello Institute is exploring is the creation of collaborative student hubs across its health science master’s programmes.

Occupational therapy students could work alongside physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, and dietetics students, gaining first-hand experience of how different professions contribute to integrated, person-centred care.

“There are not many courses doing that at the moment,” says Yvonne. “There is a great deal of overlap between all of us. Students need to understand what each professional does, negotiate roles, and recognise when somebody else’s input needs to come first.”

A supervised student-led clinic on campus at Portobello is also in development, an initiative that has generated real excitement among Yvonne and her fellow MSc Programme Leads, Dr Roberta Mendes, Dr Stella Choy, and Dr Courtney Feike.

“We hope to create a clinic where patients and people who self-refer from across Dublin can be seen without facing long waiting lists.

“Fully registered occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, dietitians, and physiotherapists would be on site to supervise and support them. I think it would be a valuable addition to the community.”

Move Closer to Becoming an Occupational Therapist

From foundational learning in Year 1 to advanced practice and independent research in Year 2 – brought to life by tailored work placements – the MSc Occupational Therapy (Pre-registration) readies graduates for confident professional practice.

Whether you’re changing career or advancing your studies, the programme offers a pathway into a rewarding profession where you can make a meaningful difference every day.

Apply now and take the next step towards becoming an occupational therapist.

Have questions? Book a call with a Career Pathway Consultant.