Clinical Education

Toward the end of the program, you will bolster your practical knowledge by completing a 600-hour field placement at an approved agency site. If you are a student entering the program without the Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) credential, you will choose a placement based on the interests you have developed throughout the program. Students can choose from placements at sites across the country.

The department also maintains relationships with numerous healthcare and human service agencies in Philadelphia and the surrounding region, offering students additional opportunities for training and research. Such organizations include nationally recognized rehabilitation facilities, healthcare systems and medical centers.

If you are a CTRS-credentialed student who currently works as a recreational therapist, your course assignments in the program will challenge you to apply evidence to your practice as a recreational therapist. You will learn new assessment tools and implement them in your agency, develop an evaluation plan for a new program, or implement a new intervention.

The program culminates in a fieldwork project that involves evidence-based recreation therapy. Many students present their projects at professional meetings or conferences or publish in scholarly journals.