Debra L. Collette, OTD, OTR/L

Sometimes things that seem too good to be true actually are true.

For example, if you’re a caring person with an interest in science, there’s a career path waiting for you that pretty much offers a guaranteed job.

Okay, there is a bit of a catch. It requires completing your master’s or doctoral degree in the Occupational Therapy program at Sage (bonus: Sage offers several undergraduate programs that link to the graduate program in Occupational Therapy and make it possible for eligible students to complete a bachelor’s degree and graduate degree in less time than it would take to pursue the degrees individually.)

The Occupational Therapy master’s program has a record of 100% passing rate of certification exams, and 100% job placement.

Debra Collette, the program’s director and one of its professors, believes the prime reason for this success is that, “We hire faculty with extensive clinical experience who have a real passion for teaching.”

That certainly matches her own story. Professor Collette worked in occupational therapy, in a school environment, for 19 years. Finding that she loved mentoring students considering her profession, she pursued and earned a clinical doctorate and began teaching at Sage.

What most of her students have in common, she says, is that they are positive, caring and motivated. And, they like the idea that they’ll be helping people of all ages, from infants to the elderly, and they’ll be able to work in a variety of settings, from schools and hospitals to rehabilitation centers and nursing homes.

The Occupational Therapy master’s degree program is designed to be completed in two and a half years. Two years are spent on academics, with the final six months out in the field. The academics part includes work in well-equipped lab settings, and working with real people in the community with real medical issues. Research is also conducted by teams of students, leading to presentation and several publications of findings.

The doctoral program is completed in three years, with a few additional courses each semester, beginning the second summer, and a 14-week doctoral capstone experience following Level II Fieldworks.

When the program is completed, Professor Collette says, students can choose to work practically anywhere they want. But maybe most important of all, she says, “They leave the program feeling confident and competent, ready to practice entry-level Occupational Therapy.”