Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Service, BSRS

Welcome   

Career Opportunities with a BSRS

Job Skills and Titles

Congratulations on your interest in the field of rehabilitation services.  The LSUHSC Department of Rehabilitation Counseling has been dedicated to undergraduate education for over 20 years.  Students are recognized as being well-prepared for employment and/or graduate studies.  The LSUHSC BSRS degree program is committed to educating undergraduate rehabilitation students with the foundation, skills and knowledge to effectively work with persons with disability.  It is estimated that over 50 million people with disabilities need support from trained professionals.

Career Opportunities

The purpose of the baccalaureate in Rehabilitation Services is to provide the student with a broad, liberal arts education combined with a basic understanding of physical, mental, emotional, and social disabilities. The student is initially provided with a liberal arts foundation and then provided specialized coursework and clinical training on how to assist people with physical, mental, emotional, or social disabilities to lead more productive lives.  Since the BSRS degree is a professional degree versus a general undergraduate degree, students are often poised for more competitive employment offers and graduate school options.  Four general, post-baccalaureate career possibilities exist, depending on the needs and interests of students:

       (1) Graduate study in Rehabilitation Counseling 

       (2) Graduate study in other helping professions (e.g., Counseling, Social Work, etc. )

       (3) Graduate study in Allied Professions (e.g., OT, ST, PT, etc.)

       (4) Employment in a wide range of human services

(1) Graduate Study in Rehabilitation Counseling: 

After completion of the baccalaureate in Rehabilitation Services, many students further their expertise in the area of Rehabilitation by pursuing a graduate degree in Rehabilitation Counseling.  There are over 80 graduate RC programs in the nation with the LSUHSC MHSRC  program ranking in the top 15 nationally.  BSRS students who pursue admission to the LSUHSC program may qualify for advanced standing in the MHSRC program if accepted.  Students who are accepted for advanced standing may accelerate the MHSRC curriculum in order to graduate one semester early. 

(2) Graduate Study in other Helping Professions (e.g., Counseling, Social Work, etc. )

Many students graduating with a BSRS degree have pursued graduate degree options in Counseling, Social Work, Education, etc.  Since BSRS students complete 15 credit hours of graduate coursework and are required to complete 600 hours of clinical field experience, students are well-prepared for the rigors of graduate studies.  Past students are quoted as stating,

“I had a better understanding of what to expect from graduate school

because of my training in the BSRS program”.

“I was much better prepared than most of my graduate school peers”.

(3) Graduate Study in other Allied Health Professions (OT, PT, ST, etc.)

The general nature of the degree encourages students to consider graduate study in allied rehabilitation areas, such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, etc.  Because some of these professions may tend to specialize in a specific aspect of the individual with a disability, a broader, holistic, undergraduate rehabilitation education is desirable. Students interested in other allied health fields are provided the opportunity to complete 2 fieldwork experiences with in the BSRS program.  Past students are quoted as stating,

“I felt I was a better OT student because I had a good foundation for what rehabilitation was” 

“With a BSRS and a grad degree in Speech, I feel like I have the full package, not only how to do therapy with my patients, but how to emphathize with their unique situations – that is what the BSRS program taught me”

(4) Employment in a wide range of human services

Baccalaureate graduates have the background to perform functions related to counseling under the supervision of a graduate-trained rehabilitation professional. Functions related to counseling include such skills as intake interviewing and screening, community outreach, case-finding, and routine service coordination and case-recording. The use of the baccalaureate individual, under the supervision of either a graduate-trained rehabilitation counselor or allied rehabilitation professional, enables graduate-trained professional to be involved in more complex activities, such as advanced professional skill applications, program management, and research. Consequently, this type of education—with its humanistic orientation—is adaptable to other career areas that emphasize human relations or interpersonal skills.

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JOB SKILLS AND TITLES FOR BSRS GRADUATES

Examples of skills that graduates with a baccalaureate in Rehabilitation Services should be able to perform under the supervision of a graduate-trained rehabilitation professional include the following:

     1.  Intake interviewing and screening

     2.  Community outreach and case-finding

     3.  Routine service coordination and case-recording activities

     4.  Routine work evaluation and work adjustment techniques and procedures

     5.  Job development and placement activities

     6.  Basic client-advocate activities

     7.  Various, specialized, administrative staff duties and assignments

     8.  Behavior management procedures

     9.  Work in substance abuse facilities

Examples of job titles for which graduates of the LSUHSC BSRS would qualify include:

     1. rehabilitation counseling technician                      11. rehabilitation specialist

     2. service coordinator                                            12. case manager

     3. placement specialist                                           13. interviewer

     4. social skills instructor                                         14. disability prevention specialist

     5. vocational evaluator technician                           15. eligibility worker

     6. corrections classification specialist                      16. research technician

     7. mental health technician                                     17. independent living specialist

     8. client-advocate representative                            18. job coach/employment specialist

     9. work adjustment technician                                  

   10. group home counselor/teaching parent  

      Institutional settings which may employ graduates would include organizations or agencies, public or private, concerned with physical disability, developmental disabilities, crisis intervention, mental illness, geriatrics, corrections, drug addiction, alcoholism, employment, human resources development, community-based youth employment, and therapeutic recreation.

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