The university’s Marieb College prepares resilient professionals and resourceful caregivers for the well-being of Southwest Florida
Rehabilitation science is a multidisciplinary field that studies human function and disability and aims to help people achieve optimal health. It is a field evolving constantly and rapidly, resulting in therapeutic advances that professionals can apply in hospitals, clinics, fitness centers and other healthcare settings.
With that in mind, Florida Gulf Coast University prepares and inspires resilient professionals and resourceful caregivers capable of transforming community health and well-being through the latest best practices and technology in rehabilitation science.
FGCU’s Marieb College of Health & Human Services offers highly successful degree programs in exercise science, occupational therapy and physical therapy that instill the kind of solutions-oriented curiosity that makes our students lifelong learners. Intensive fieldwork, community involvement and inter-professional learning guarantee students in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences have everything they need to deliver forward-thinking care — no matter what changes in the industry.
This approach enables our graduates to achieve licensure pass rates well above the statewide average — 100% in most cases — as well as 100% employment rates. Healthcare leaders consider our graduates Florida’s best-prepared therapists, trainers and educators.
Occupational therapy: A record of success
Occupational therapists assess, plan and organize rehabilitative programs that help build or restore vocational and daily living skills and general independence to people with disabilities or developmental delays. The first occupational therapy students at FGCU enrolled in 1999, pursuing a bachelor’s program that later transitioned to a master of science degree.
After they complete their studies and 24 weeks of fieldwork, graduates participate in a licensure exam hosted by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. For 10 consecutive years, Marieb OT graduates have upheld a 100% pass rate for this high-stakes exam. In fact, FGCU was the only state school to achieve that milestone for the most recent exam.
The program’s outcomes, paired with FGCU’s affordability and student support mechanisms, are truly second to none. The occupational therapy department is well-supported with eight full-time faculty members boasting over 200 years of practice experience combined. They have built a fully-accredited, cohesive curriculum, improved student learning outcomes and built collaborative relationships with practicing therapists in the community.
Physical therapy: Practitioners teaching practitioners
As with occupational therapy, graduates of Marieb College’s physical therapy program maintain a 100% pass rate on the National Physical Therapy Examination. All states require physical therapists to be licensed, and a doctor of physical therapy degree like FGCU’s is a standard requirement to practice in the field.
Many aspects set Marieb’s doctorate apart from other schools. Smaller class sizes mean a better student-to-faculty ratio and more personalized learning. Problem-based learning promotes lifelong active learning skills. Classes are taught by faculty, rather than teaching assistants or graduate students. And the majority of faculty members are still practicing clinicians, so they bring experience from the field directly into the classroom.
What’s more, the college’s state-of-the-art labs provide hands-on experience with current technology. Students perfect various therapeutic and diagnostic assessment techniques in cutting-edge sports medicine, human performance, musculoskeletal, neuromuscular and aquatics rehabilitation labs.
As a result, Marieb graduates are exceptionally prepared to help injured or ill people improve movement and manage pain in settings that include hospitals, clinics, private practices, patients’ homes and nursing homes.
Exercise science: Promoting lifelong wellness
Exercise science embraces the study of the physical, social, emotional, intellectual and spiritual dimensions of movement. At FGCU, students in this bachelor’s degree program learn how the body responds to activity and exercise over the course of one’s life and how individuals can attain a higher level of all-around wellness.
Interdisciplinary but strongly based in science, Marieb College’s exercise science program emphasizes applied and critical thinking that prepares students for graduate studies in health-related fields or to start careers helping people improve their health and physical capabilities. In the college’s human performance laboratory, students learn to use resistance training equipment, body composition analyzers, cardiac stress systems, anti-gravity and underwater treadmills and other state-of-the-art technology.
Graduates sit for national certification exams through the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American College of Sports Medicine.
For more information about Marieb College’s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences or other programs, go to fgcu.edu/mariebcollege.
10501 FGCU Boulevard South
Fort Myers, FL 33965
(239) 590-1000 | fgcu.edu