Advance Your Practice with a Post-Professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD)

Be part of an occupational therapy program that makes you a top priority with classes taught by scholars and leaders in the field. With a strong legacy of developing occupational therapists since 1941 and advancing their education with post-professional degrees since 1995, Mount Mary is the university to move your practice forward.

About the Post-Professional OTD Program

The post-professional Occupational Therapy Doctorate is designed for practicing occupational therapists (OT/OTR) who seek to transition from a master's degree to a doctorate and advance competencies in their chosen area of practice. As a professional in our program, you will:

• enhance your depth of knowledge and reflect upon practice, based on occupation, theory, and evidence
• transform your practice through program-based population services for a population and organization
• critique and create practice alternatives for the occupational therapy profession

As a graduate you will be able to:

• use leadership skills to design and implement program ideas that meet the needs of an organization and a population
• collaborate using interprofessional strategies to develop and analyze program outcomes
• synthesize in-depth knowledge to design solutions for practice challenges based on professional evidence

Program Format

The Post-Professional OTD is a 30-credit program with 10 credits transferred from an occupational therapy master's degree educational program. The program is completed in 12 months on a part-time basis with all courses completed online. By remaining in a work setting while engaging in advanced education, you'll develop reflective practice skills in a manner that has ongoing real-world application. Read more about the technology requirements.

Program of Study:

TERM 1

OCT 800: Professional Doctorate Plan (2 credits) Leadership development for interprofessional collaboration with an organizational partner and population including networking and advocacy. 

OCT 802: Population Services (2 credits) Occupational therapy’s unique contribution to population services including population research, program development, and grant writing. 

OCT 810: Advanced Occupational Therapy Practice (2 credits) Curated readings from professional literature in practice area (children and youth, physical rehabilitation and disability, productive aging, and wellness/prevention/mental health).  

TERM 2

OCT 812: Specialty Practice Residency (4 credits) Needs assessment - population profile, organizational narrative, occupational injustice / occupational opportunity, program intervention plan within partner organization and population contexts.

OCT 814: Specialty Practice Competency (2 credits) Professional literature addressing population needs and supporting program intervention.

OCT 814A: Doctoral Advising (1 credit) Mentored population services development through review and reflection on professional literature

TERM 3

OCT 816: Specialty Practice Project (2 credits) Population services program proposal including program intervention, implementation operational details, program evaluation and stakeholder feedback. Includes networking, leadership and grant proposal. 

OCT 816A: Doctoral Advising (1 credit) Mentored population services program proposal development through reflection on proposal components and stakeholder input. 

OCT 818: Professional Doctorate Portfolio (4 credits) Population services proposal demonstrating critical reflection and synthesis of knowledge, skills and competencies for population services through a scholarly paper, scholarly report, scholarly presentation and leadership.  Includes presentation to organization and professional community.  Includes doctoral committee review of portfolio and oral defense by doctoral candidate. 

TOTAL CREDITS: 20 (10 credits transferred from a master's degree program in occupational therapy)

Don't have a master's degree? 

Mount Mary also offers a bridge program for practicing occupational therapists with a bachelor's degree who wish to earn a post-professional OTD. Bridging from a bachelor's degree to an occupational therapy doctorate requires completion of the Post-Professional Master of Science degree, a 9 month, 12 credit program. Visit our Post-Professional Master of Science page for more information.

Admission

To apply to the OTD program, please submit the following items:

• Graduate Student Application
• Official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended
• Copy of current OT license
• Copy of government-issued photo ID

Completed applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Upon notification of admission, applicants must submit a tuition deposit to confirm their intent to enroll. A maximum of 20 students are admitted each year.

Have questions about the program?  Reach out to Dr. Kari Inda, Chair of Occupational Therapy, at indak@mtmary.edu.

Academic Excellence

Mount Mary University encourages academic excellence. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). All institutions accredited by the HLC must meet the criteria set forth by the HLC and be evaluated every 10 years. HLC continued the accreditation of Mount Mary University in January of 2023; the next Reaffirmation of Accreditation will be in 2032-2033. 

Higher Learning Commission Accreditation Verification