Doctor of Occupational Therapy
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program consists of 114 semester credit hours of graduate-level coursework, including 6 months of full-time clinical fieldwork, and a doctoral capstone experience. Students must successfully fulfill all program-specific requirements including completion of all coursework while maintaining the performance standards outlined by the program, Level II Fieldwork, the Doctoral Capstone Experience, as well as program requirements related to professional behavior, interprofessional education, and community service in order to meet graduation requirements.
Requirements for successful completion of each segment of the OTD curriculum are:
1. Didactic course work (listed in the Plan of Study, First and Second Years) must be completed while maintaining a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or higher each semester and attaining a grade of B or better in the five OT Process courses (OCCT 7005, OCCT 7008, OCCT 7014, OCCT 7017, and OCCT 7027).
Students must successfully complete all didactic coursework before they may register for Level II coursework and proceed to the Level II fieldwork experiences. Students are not able to enroll in Level II fieldwork courses if they are on probation, have earned a C in the specified courses that require a final grade of B or better, or are on continued probation.
2. Professional Behavior Evaluations are conducted each Spring semester in the first and second year of the didactic coursework segment of the curriculum. This evaluation process consists of a review of students’ self-assessment as well as a faculty assessment of their professional behaviors. The established criterion score on the faculty assessment portion must be achieved before a student may proceed further in the curriculum.
3. Other program requirements include CPR certification (American Heart Association approved course), participation in interprofessional co-curricular activities, community service participation, and being a member of professional occupational therapy associations. These requirements must be fulfilled throughout the didactic coursework segment in the curriculum. Failure to meet these requirements will prohibit a student from progressing to Level II Fieldwork.
4. Level II Fieldwork experiences in the OTD curriculum consist of two, 12-week fieldwork placements. Level II fieldwork experiences are graded on a satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis according to the student's performance, judgment, and attitude as measured by the on-site supervisor using the AOTA Fieldwork Performance Evaluation for the Occupational Therapy Student. Criterion scores, as suggested by the American Occupational Therapy Association, are used to determine satisfactory performance.
If a student on Level II fieldwork receives a score below the criterion score on the AOTA Fieldwork Performance Evaluation for the Occupational Therapy Student, the student will receive an unsatisfactory grade for the affiliation. The student who fails any Level II affiliation may be subject to dismissal from the program.
Placements are assigned by the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator in an objective and impartial manner. Assignment to students’ preferred fieldwork sites cannot be assured. If the student fails to accept or complete a scheduled fieldwork assignment, they will experience a delay in completing the OTD program. Students must successfully complete two Level II Fieldwork experiences before they may proceed to the Doctoral Capstone segment of the curriculum.
5. The Doctoral Capstone Experience supports students’ development of synthesis and in-depth knowledge gained in the occupational therapy curriculum. The students’ individual doctoral capstone plan will be conducted with an assigned faculty mentor who is responsible for administering and supervising the students’ progress toward completion of the experience. The student will also work with a designated site mentor who will evaluate the student’s performance in the setting. The Doctoral Capstone Experience requires successful completion of the required hours in a mentored setting and completion of a doctoral capstone project reflective of the focus area of their Capstone.
Students must complete all graduation, Level II fieldwork, and doctoral capstone requirements within 24 months of completing the didactic phase of the program.