| Doctor of Occupational Therapy

UIW combines the best possible scientific foundation with unmatched clinical experience — delivered across many types of primary and specialty care settings and serving diverse patient needs and populations. You would advance a mission of care that began in 1869 with the founding of Santa Rosa Infirmary, the region’s first Catholic hospital, by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

You’ll find our graduates working across a range of settings and specialties, both regionally and nationally.

• Hospitals and Medical Centers
• Rehabilitation Services
• Outpatient Practices
• Sports Therapy
• Higher Education
• Pediatrics
• Senior Services

Graduate Outcomes

Upon completion of all requirements of the OTD program at the University of the Incarnate Word, graduates will be prepared to:

• Demonstrate competence in scholarship, lifelong learning, evidence-based practice, occupation-based intervention, education, and research through advocating for the OT profession, care partners, and consumers of occupational therapy services.
• Discover and define truth in communication and research, mutual understanding with cultural humility, self-realization, empathy, and the common good through provision as a health and wellness provider within state and federal regulatory guidelines.
• Incorporate a global perspective for justice with cultural humility through diversity, inclusion, equity, and accessibility to maximize health, well-being, and quality of life for all people, populations, and communities.
• Innovate using advanced, evidenced-based, occupation-based clinical skills, educational technology, and expertise to serve the spiritual, physical, mental & behavioral health, psychosocial aspects, and material needs of a diverse population.
• Engage in intraprofessional and interprofessional education and practice that addresses evidence-based, occupation-based, client-centered, complementary health and integrative health, and cost-effective health care and demonstrates influence in changing health and public policies, environments, and complex systems.

Accreditations

The University of the Incarnate Word is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award associate, baccalaureate, master's, doctorate and professional degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097 or call (404) 679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of University of the Incarnate Word.

Doctoral-Degree-Level Occupational Therapy Program (Applicant Program)

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 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E Bethesda, MD 20814 ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.

The program must be granted Candidacy Status, have a pre-accreditation 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.

Students must complete all graduation, fieldwork, and doctoral capstone requirements in a timely manner. Level II fieldwork and the doctoral capstone must be completed within two years. Students must complete 24 weeks of Level II fieldwork as well as an individual 14-week capstone experience within 24 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 2023 ACOTE OTD Standard D.1.3.