NDMU healthcare programs share a common focus on compassionate care of patients and consideration for the whole person. We believe these are essential to becoming an effective leader in health care.
In our OTD program, your instructors will take you beyond the textbook. We emphasize client based therapeutic interventions, professional and clinical reasoning, and therapeutic use of self to meet clients where they are and empower them to meet their goals through evidence influenced practice.
The Occupational Therapy Doctorate is a full-time, year-round professional program which can be completed in three years.
Opportunities for clinical experiences are built into the curriculum to provide gradually increased levels of responsibility and experience in occupational therapy settings under the guidance and supervision of a qualified occupational therapist.
The capstone is the culmination of your OTD studies and is comprised of three courses:
Planning for the doctoral capstone requires collaboration with faculty and a mentor to prepare for the experience. You will develop in-depth skills in areas such as practice, research, administration, leadership, program and policy development, advocacy, education, and theory development.
The Capstone Experience occurs over a minimum of 14 weeks or 560 hours under the supervision of a mentor, who may or may not be an occupational therapist depending on the expertise needed to provide appropriate direction. No more than 20% of the 560 hours may occur off-site from the mentored practice experience. Time spent off-site may include independent study activities, such as research and writing.
The NDMU Occupational Therapy Doctorate program starts a new cohort each fall. Applicants may apply for the next cohort through the Occupational Therapist Centralized Application Service (OTCAS).
The standard deadline to submit a completed application is April 1. Applications received after the April 1 deadline may be considered for admission if space is available and would be placed on a wait list.
Admitted students may submit an application to be considered for complimentary student housing. The priority deadline for this application is Feb. 28, 2023. For more information please contact Natalie Cross at ncross2@ndm.edu.
The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Candidacy Status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.
The program must have a preaccreditation review, complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. NOTE: A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
Students must complete 24 weeks of Level II fieldwork as well as an individual 14-week capstone experience within 12 months following the completion of the didactic portion of the program. The doctoral capstone experience must be started after completion of all coursework and Level II fieldwork as well as completion of preparatory activities defined in 2018 ACOTE OTD Standard D.1.3.