FAQ

The training program which consists of five courses, each one lasting 45 hours, can be completed in under 18 months, on a part-time basis.

Courses are given in English and French.

Occupational Therapists that have successfully completed the five courses of the program will receive a post-graduate certificate. Students can access the McGill Minerva system (https://www.mcgill.ca/minvera-students/) for a copy of their transcript. Credits will be given to students that have successfully completed the course as a student with special status.

Participation in online courses is primarily asynchronous. Course contents can be accessed at any time, from anywhere on the planet. The course's methodology is similar to other seminar-type classes, wherein the student evolves in a learning process attuned to his/her own pace, working independently while reading, analyzing, questioning, researching and reflecting, as is normally the case in a traditional learning context. The course is designed to facilitate a maximal interchange of ideas and a rich, interactive dialogue among professionals. All useful information will be available on the website in various guises: scientific content, audio-visual documents, hypertext links, case studies, tests and more.
The highly qualified instructor, whose expertise in driving ability screening, assessment and rehabilitation is recognized in his/her field, will conduct the pedagogy and manage the class. Each student will be asked to:
a. converse with peers and the instructor; 
b. take part in discussions; 
c. ask questions and offer answers; 
d. become familiar with research papers.

No. Since the courses are asynchronous, you don’t have to be connected to the Internet at the same time as the instructor or other students. You carry out your work autonomously.
You will only be asked to connect at a specific time in the event that the instructor organizes a chat session. In that case, it would be possible to address questions or comments to the instructor, who is able to field them in real-time.
In the case of group assignments, it will also be possible to work synchronously, if this method is more convenient for you.

You will need a personal computer with Internet access and a web browser (Netscape 4.x or later / Internet Explorer 4.x or later). Though recommended, a high speed Internet connection is not mandatory. The technology behind this course enables the rapid transmission of content to a basic computer system.

Yes. Group discussions will resemble the "round table or forum" format, in which you have access to all previous messages posted by the other students or the instructor, and where you can post a comment, question or message at any time to keep the discussion going.

Yes. The instructor will supply an email address at which he/she can be reached at all times. Telephone hours will also be specified at the beginning of the course.

No class or workshop attendance is required for POTH-673 (Screening for the at Risk Driver) and 674 (Assessing Driving Ability), which are given entirely online. Attendance at an intensive clinical workshop is planned for POTH-675 (Driving Assessment Practicum), 676 (Adaptive Equipment and Driving) and 677 (Retraining Driving Skills) given over two to five consecutive days. These workshops are offered at the Constance-Lethbridge Rehabilitation Centre (CLRC) in Montreal. We plan to offer other training centres if warranted by a significant amount of enrollments by students living in regional communities and if the necessary expertise is available.

A graduate course usually takes 117 hours of work per semester. Intensive clinical workshops have been planned in healthcare establishments with real clients that will be given in condensed format. POTH-675 (Driving Assessment Practicum) includes 5 days practical training while POTH-676 (Adaptive Equipment and Driving) and POTH-677 (Retraining Driving Skills) include, respectively, practical training of 4 and 2 days.

The time required to read, analyze, study, write and carry out research will depend on the student's commitment, time management and overall motivation. The amount of time spent on a course will therefore fluctuate from student to student. Nevertheless, an average of nine hours work per week is expected, time enough to become familiar with the materials, engage in class discussions, complete assignments and read the supplementary texts.

Yes. A course extension is possible with the instructor's permission. In some cases, an extension might prevent the student from registering for the next course in the training sequence.

In such a case, the instructor and the Graduate studies Director should be notified and provided with a doctor’s certificate. A request should be sent to the Office of Graduate studies to either ask for an extension or withdrawal from the course.

Only one repeat is allowed. You must send in a request to the Office of Graduate studies and you will be required to pay certain fees to rewrite an exam. If you fail this exam or another course, you will have to withdraw from the program.

The instructor will guide each student as to his/her preferred transmission method :email, electronic bulletin board posting (BBS), fax or postal (snail) mail.

The instructor will inform each student as to the due dates of assignments. The student should consult the online calendar on a regular basis, in order to become aware of important postings relevant to assignments.

An online application can be found at: https://www.mcgill.ca/applying/applying-mcgill

The program coordinator will contact each student informing them of their successful admission and the course starting date.
Each student will be assigned an access code and password giving him/her access to the website for the relevant course, which contains all the necessary information: the course outline and syllabus, the learning objectives and pedagogical organization, the schedule as well as the assignments for each unit.

The first person to contact is your instructor through e-mail. Another useful person to contact is the Program Coordinator at: admingrad.pot [at] mcgill.ca

The exercises are predominantly practical in nature and can be developed and submitted for evaluation via email. Workshops will be evaluated with different methods of evaluation.

You need the instructor's permission to take the exam at a later date. Permission is only granted in the case of an emergency. In the latter case, a doctor's medical certificate is required.

First of all, the instructor's permission is required before retaking an exam. Permission will only be granted in extreme cases. Subsequently, the instructor will fully inform the student of administrative and technical details relative to the exam.

The final grade of "F" will appear on the course transcript and no tuition refund will be possible.

A graduate certificate will be granted following the successful completion of all five courses of the Program. Each course will also be noted in your transcript.

Any request to withdraw from a course must be made in writing by submitting an electronic form to the program Director. An official withdrawal from a course will result in a “W” on the transcript. If a person stops attending a course without officially withdrawing he/she will receive the grade of “F”.

Yes. A partial refund of tuition fees will be provided in case of official withdrawal before the deadline.