Education: To Be or Not to Be...Online

By Jacqueline Thrash, OTR/L

Ever since my accident three years ago, I have been contemplating going back to school to get my master's degree in OT. I graduated in the late 1980s and was "grandfathered" in when it became a requirement to have a master's in OT. I wanted to get my master's for two reasons: one, to become an advanced practitioner, and two, to accommodate my residual physical challenges.

I first considered a "traveling assignment" to an out-of-state, one-year, post-professional master's program, but my husband experienced a stress-related illness which required me to stay home.

After looking and looking, I found the San Jose State University (SJSU) post-professional online master's program. This seemed appealing—I wouldn't have to leave home in order to complete it, it would only be part-time for two years, and I could still work (and was expected to by the program). I already had my bachelor's in OT from SJSU, so I knew it was a good school.

San Jose State was the first school in the U.S. to offer an accredited online post-professional master's in OT, according to associate professor Pamela Richardson, PhD. The first class, or cohort, of students was admitted in 1999. The program is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

When interviewing Richardson (online of course) for this article, she commented, "The faculty has been consistently impressed by the quality and depth of the online class discussions and the supportive learning community that develops within each cohort of students. The students are active, engaged professionals when they enter the program, and as graduates their increased knowledge and confidence motivates them to take on a variety of leadership roles and create positive change." Richardson published an article in Occupational Therapy in Health Care on student development in an online post-professional master's program in 2004.

Initially, I felt a little unsure about the online format. In the middle of the night, about a week before it started, I awoke suddenly and wondered, "What have I done?" I was about to start something new and unfamiliar, and push myself to new levels of academic expectations, all while working full time. Could I do it? I was mildly afraid.

Now, two months later, I can laugh about it. But don't get me wrong; it's neither a piece of cake, nor, as Lauren Hill said in the movie Sister Act II, "a bird course." It's a rewarding challenge.

The format is actually ingenious. There are three summer sessions or retreats and the rest of the two-year program is online. Three cohorts run at the same time. The first summer, the new cohort (that was me, part of cohort 9) enters the program and meets both the graduating group (cohort 7) and the continuing group (cohort 8) at the summer retreat.

I am one of 20 internationally practicing OTs; we met for the first time last summer in San Jose for a four-day retreat to meet our professors, get oriented to and start the online format, and begin to get to know each other. I liked how the program design included the retreat to give us a chance to meet the other students face to face.

Cohort 8 welcomed us, helped us get settled, gave us the inside scoop and became our big sisters and big brothers. Cohort 7 presented posters of their masters' theses or projects, and we watched them graduate. I cried. I understood that from the very beginning we had our eye on both the starting and finishing lines.

I asked my colleagues from cohort 8 to give me their personal input, and this is what some of them said:

According to Priya Sanjay Talreja, "Although I have always wanted to pursue higher studies, it was difficult because of family commitments and the lack of a college nearby. The distance program fills this need perfectly. The discussions with cohort members and staff are lively, interesting and stimulating. I am going to miss this network, once we complete our program."

According to Susan Fisher McClure, "Each class transitions into the next semester's classes andÉ all the classes relate and blend into one another. I find the readings in one class often provide an answer to a question that arises in another... I feel that I have changed considerably from the OT I was in 2006 and now feel more than ever that I am able to give back to my profession in so many more ways."

According to Susan Elizabeth Ramos, "One of the aspects of this program I find most useful and meaningful has been the ability to communicate with all of my classmatesÉ Hearing the voices of experience from 17 other therapists, coupled with their feedback and support, has been incredibly valuable through this experience. I truly hope that my contact with the members of cohort 8 will extend beyond completion of this program in August."

Even though I have only just begun the program, I already see a change in my clinical reasoning and my patient treatment. I like that everyone gets to add their input in the class discussions, not just the vocal ones like me.

These turns in the road of my life have become opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Jacqueline Thrash, OTR, has nearly 20 years of clinical experience in California and Arizona, in acute care and outpatient rehab, SNF, adult day treatment, and home health. Reach her online at www.livingskillstherapy.com or by email at thrash@pinkiemae.com.