Oct 24, 2014 08:50 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

The University of the Pacific is launching the first music therapy program in Bay Area at its "state-of-the-art" new downtown San Francisco campus beginning next fall, school officials announced.

The program will be designed for working professionals with a bachelor's degree in music or a related field, such as psychology or special education. Music therapy is a health care profession has an average annual salary of more than $70,000.

"Careers in music therapy are deeply rewarding, and certified music therapists are increasingly in demand. We are proud to be able to extend this opportunity to working professionals in the Bay Area," Feilin Hsiao, director of the Music Therapy Program at Pacific's nationally acclaimed Conservatory of Music, said in a statement.

The flexible curriculum enables students to complete the coursework, clinical practicum and other prerequisites required to sit for the board certification examination for music therapists, without having to earn a second baccalaureate degree. The program can be completed in as few as four semesters.

Music therapy is a clinical and evidence-based health profession that uses music to increase people's motivation to become engaged in their treatment, offers emotional support for clients and families, and provides an alternative way to communicate, especially

Clinical opportunities will be available at institutions such as the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland and Kindred Nursing and Rehabilitation-Golden Gate.

Nationally, some 5,000 credentialed music therapists work in geriatric facilities, schools, health care settings or in private practice. The average annual salary is about $51,899 nationwide and $71,742 in California, according to the American Music Therapy Association.

According to school officials, the University of the Pacific was an early pioneer of music therapy, offering its first course in 1939. In addition to the new San Francisco program, Pacific's Conservatory of Music offers an equivalency program and BA in music therapy at the university's main campus in Stockton. The Stockton campus also offers the state's only master's degree in music therapy.

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