If enrolled full time, students complete the 60 credits required for a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling in two years. Summer terms are reserved for practicum and internship.
The degree requires a full-time, one-semester-long internship in a professional rehabilitation counseling setting (600 hours).
The curriculum is designed to offer both a thesis and nonthesis option.
Suggested plan of study
Following is a typical plan of studies for a Master's Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling:
Fall term, year one
- HRS 2731 - Foundations of Rehabilitation and the Rehabilitation Counseling Process, 3 credits
- HRS 2704 - Fundamentals of Rehabilitation Engineering and Technology, 3 credits
- HRS 2708 - Individual and Social Experience of Disability, 3 credits
- HRS 2733 - Introductory Counseling, 3 credits
Spring term, year one
- HRS 2739 - Group and Family Counseling, 3 credits
- HRS 2734 - Advanced Rehabilitation Counseling, 3 credits
- HRS 2905 - Ethical Issues in Health Care, 3 credits
- HRS 2705 - Clinical and Functional Evaluations, 3 credits
Summer session, year one
Fall term, year two
- HRS 2901 - Research Methodology, 3 credits
- HRS 2738 - Rehabilitation of Cognitive and Psychiatric Disability, 3 credits
- AT Elective: Computer Access (HRS 2711), Telerehabilitation (HRS 2915), Home and Worksite Modifications (HRS 2723), 3 credits, AT Funding and Policy (HRS 2724) -OR- other elective, 3 credits
- HRS 2741 - Case Management, 3 credits
Spring term, year two
- HRS 2715 - Medical Aspects of Disability, 3 credits
- HRS 2735 - Career Counseling and Vocational Issues, 3 credits
- HRS 2737 - Assessment in Rehabilitation Counseling, 3 credits
- HRS 2926 - Thesis or Scholarly Paper, 3 credits
Summer session, year two
Total: 60 credits
Thesis and Non-Thesis options
There are two options for meeting the program requirements for research competency: the Thesis or the Scholarly Paper. Both showcase a student’s cumulative knowledge and professional growth in rehabilitation counseling through in-depth review and analysis of a specific topic related to the field of rehabilitation counseling, and therefore function as a “comprehensive examination.”
The Thesis is a data-based project comprising one or more specific aims or hypotheses which arise from a review of recent literature. The data must be analyzed and summarized appropriately. Any collection or use of human subject data for the thesis must be preceded by submission and approval of a University of Pittsburgh IRB protocol.
The non-thesis option, the Scholarly Paper, may take the format of a literature review, program development, curriculum design, or other project as approved by members of the student’s Scholarly Paper Committee. While a Scholarly Paper, unlike a thesis, does not involve formal data collection/analysis, the paper must include a conceptual problem statement and explicit description of methodology used in completing the paper.