Occupational Therapy Program
Entry Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy
FDU Doctor of Occupational Therapy empowers students to become competent practitioners and compassionate leaders with the skills to effectively propose solutions to rapidly changing health, community, and educational systems.
The Occupational Therapy Doctorate at a Glance
Our full-time program is 8 semesters, including summers, totaling 101 credits. The curriculum includes courses focusing on foundational, practice and reinforcement, and scholarship skills. Courses will occur in classrooms, lab facilities, and in the field during fieldwork level I and II and the culminating capstone experience.
The program begins at the end of May each year. Students will begin and work through the program with a cohort of peers. FDU values the cohort model as an opportunity for students to build lifelong relationships while learning how to communicate and collaborate professionally. Our program values a low student-to-faculty ratio to enhance hands-on learning in the classroom.
Mission
Our mission is to educate students to become occupational therapists who demonstrate competencies in applying occupation-focused approaches in practice, collaborating with other professionals, and promoting inclusivity. FDU OTD students are educated with the goal of becoming critical thinkers, leaders, scholars, and advocates for occupational therapy.
Core Values
- Critical thinking
- Theory-Based Practice
- Interprofessional collaboration
- Inclusion of all people, groups and populations to promote health and well-being through occupation
Why FDU OTD Stands Out
The Occupational Therapy program focuses on educating a new generation of occupational therapists who are prepared to be competent practitioners and compassionate leaders. Students will be socially engaged in local and global health practices to advance equitable, diverse, and inclusive healthcare practices. FDU OTD are educated to become leaders and entry-level scholars in the field of occupational therapy and healthcare at large. Most importantly, the curriculum strives to develop critical thinkers.
The curriculum is built on the following four curricular threads that run across the curriculum:
- Exceptional occupation-focused practice skills grounded in evidence and theories;
- Interprofessional Collaboration and Practice, with an understanding of diverse communities and populations;
- Leadership with professionalism and a clear understanding of ethics;
- Skills in Scholarly pursuit.
Upon completion of the program students will:
- Demonstrate the ability to analyze complex occupational therapy problems of individuals, groups, and populations.
- Design occupation-focused solutions to a variety of clinical problems, within a variety of healthcare and community practice settings.
- Understand and work effectively within healthcare and community systems where occupational therapy is provided.
- Demonstrate the use of reflective practices for professional growth and meeting changing professional demands.
- Use leadership and scholarship skills to address professional and community goals.
Accreditation Status
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. Pre-accreditation review for the FDU Occupational Therapy Doctoral Program begins in March 2024, and the accreditation site visit is scheduled for November 2024. 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 that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.