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Expanded from the "Katie Diary" article in the .

Since its founding in 1905, ��ɫӰ�� has provided students with an education grounded in the liberal arts, a shared foundation benefiting students regardless of discipline, and the liberal arts have remained at the core of occupational therapy and St. Kate’s other healthcare programs. This emphasis on critical thinking and comprehensive preparation continues to provide St. Kate’s-educated health professionals with a uniquely well-rounded approach to their fields. This year, we celebrate the important milestone anniversaries of the occupational therapy, occupational therapy assistant, and holistic health studies programs.

An integral part of St. Kate’s occupational therapy (OT) in the program’s early years, the “craft shop” offered a variety of tools that students could use to develop skills to help future patients. For example, OT students practiced weaving skills (pictured in 1950 at top of page) for patient therapy in both mental health and rehabilitation settings.

Celebrating its 80-year anniversary this year, OT has been among St. Kate’s most popular studies since the program’s beginnings in 1945. Although the profession began in 1917, the need for occupational therapy grew immensely with veterans returning from World War II. The then-College of St. Catherine responded to postwar demand for healthcare workers with the introduction of its OT bachelor’s program and expansion of its nursing program. Sister Jeanne Marie Bonnett, a 1917 St. Kate’s graduate, headed the new OT department. Her efforts allowed the program to earn accreditation within the first few years of its existence, becoming Minnesota’s first accredited OT program.

An early pioneer of OT at colleges and universities, the department has since expanded to include an occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program — which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year — in 1965 and a master’s program in 1991. By 2012, with the creation of its OT doctorate program, ��ɫӰ�� was the only institution in the country to offer occupational therapy at all levels of education — from associate to doctorate.

“The marvelous liberal arts education and excellent client-centered or people-centered approach we were taught has given me the confidence, curiosity, and flexibility to [...] figure out how I can serve individuals from a holistic perspective that is driven by the client’s choice,” said Mary Kuszewski Evert ’67, OT graduate and former president of the American Occupational Therapy Association. Evert was also a 2017 winner of the ��ɫӰ�� Alumni Awards. “This is what St. Kate’s prepared me for, and I am forever grateful for this legacy. I am constantly amazed at what paths it leads me down as I seek my vision of how I can contribute in this society, in this world, and in one small lifetime.”

As ��ɫӰ�� pioneered new pathways with its bachelor’s occupational therapy program, partner institution St. Mary’s Junior College — also founded by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet — possessed an equally clear vision of the OT field’s future. With the inception of the occupational therapy assistant (OTA) profession in 1958, initially starting in hospitals and psychiatric units, the Junior College launched one of the first campus-based educational programs for OTAs in 1964.

The then-College of St. Catherine and St. Mary’s Junior College merged in 1986. As the OTA program continued to grow and flourish, St. Kate’s saw a need for access to potential students who desired to be OTAs but could not participate in a traditional face-to-face program. In collaboration with Orbis Education, the first online OTA program in the nation was established in 2014, starting with 18 students.

In 2016, the first graduates celebrated commencement in Richmond, Virginia. At the ceremony, student commencement speaker Robert Gilbert ’15 delivered remarks that reflect the heart of a St. Kate’s education: “Patients won’t remember what we said to them, but they’ll remember what we did for them.”

Since its creation, the OTA online program has grown to enroll approximately 100 students per year from all 50 states, with lab sites in Minnesota, Virginia, Texas, and California and partnerships at over 2,000 fieldwork sites. 

“Everyone in the program has been tremendously helpful and supportive,” said OTA online program graduate Kelsey Bialozynski ’23. “We have amazing faculty that want nothing more than to see us succeed; while they can be hard on us, it is truly in our best interest.”

Another 2023 graduate, Nicole Reed, said of her experience: “My time in the St. Catherine OTA program will be unforgettable. [...] I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that this program has provided me and will provide me with in the future.”

With thousands of graduates, the OTA department celebrates its 60th year since its inception and 10th year as an online program preparing future clinicians to be advocates, leaders, and professionals serving their communities to help others participate in meaningful daily activities.

Beginning in 1984 with the creation of undergraduate certificates in health and wellness counseling as well as holistic therapies, St. Kate’s Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies (MAHS) program celebrates its 40th year anniversary this year. As one of the first such programs in the nation, the MAHS program’s early faculty provided groundbreaking leadership in holistic health studies education. Through their visionary work and dedication, the undergraduate certificates led to the creation of the current online MAHS graduate program.

The program’s unique approach incorporates teachings from the best of modern scientific medicine and cross-cultural healing wisdom passed down over centuries. The curriculum provides ongoing opportunities for personal empowerment, skill development, community engagement, and spiritual transformation and integration and application into a variety of fields or directions. MAHS students are prepared to face everchanging health and wellness challenges, and become ethical and socially responsible leaders in the advancement of holistic health.

 “��ɫӰ��’s MAHS program not only fostered practical personal and professional skills, [but] MAHS peers and faculty challenged and cradled my transformation into a valued holistic healthcare provider and leader,” said Stasia Johnson Steinhagen MAHS’13, holistic health studies alumna and certified classical homeopath. “The MAHS tradition lives on through my practice, teaching, and research work.”

Today, St. Kate’s holistic health studies continues to innovate with both holistic content and the process of learning to meet the evolving needs relevant in healthcare. Both the master’s degree and certificate provide alumni with the insights and skills to bring an expansive perspective to health and healing in a variety of professions and fields, embodying ��ɫӰ��’s embrace of the intersection between healthcare and the liberal arts.

By Bella Norcross ’25, with contributions from:

• Julie Bass, PhD, professor of occupational therapy
• Patrice Washington-Goines, OTD, program director of the occupational therapist assistant program
• Laurie Anderson Sathe, EdD, program director and professor of Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies (MAHS)

Images courtesy of and the University magazine, and as provided by program directors.