Occupational Therapy Doctorate

About

The UNLV School of Integrated Health Sciences offers an Occupational Therapy Doctorate degree program that immerses students in an intensive 120 credit hour curriculum designed for entry-level competence. The curriculum includes coursework, clinical fieldwork, and a doctoral capstone project. The program admits 36 students each summer and spans three consecutive semesters (summer, fall, spring) for three years. Students will be eligible to take the National Board for Certification in Occupational therapy (NBCOT®) exam after they successfully complete all program requirements, and the program receives full accreditation status.

Accreditation

The UNLV Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA®). ACOTE® is the accrediting agency for occupational therapy education and oversees the accreditation process for all new occupational therapy programs.

Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE)
7501 Wisconsin Avenue
Suite 510E
Bethesda, MA 20814
Phone: 301-652-6611 x2042

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) degree, students should be prepared to:

Demonstrate professional behaviors on Level I fieldwork as measured by the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Level I Fieldwork Competency Evaluation for OT and OTA Students (2017) and as outlined in the Program Handbook of the UNLV OTD Program.
Engage in the ethical practice of occupational therapy as outlined by the AOTA Code of Ethics (2015) as measured on the Self-Assessment of Professional Behavior during each Professional Development Seminar class.
Achieve entry-level competence in clinical practice as measured by achieving a score of at least 122 points on the AOTA Fieldwork Performance Evaluation (2002).
Select and pursue leadership and advocacy activities through the use of an annual Professional Development Plan.
Utilize evidence-based occupational therapy interventions to address the physical, cognitive, functional, psychosocial, sensory, and other aspects of performance in a variety of contexts and environments to support engagement in everyday life activities that affect health, wellbeing, and quality of life in individuals across the lifespan.
Demonstrate competence in critically evaluating research in each of the three research and evidence-based practice courses in the OTD curriculum, as evidenced by completing Critical Reviews of Research Studies assignments in each course.
Achieve entry-level competence in evaluating patient performance through performing standardized and non-standardized assessments in classroom and clinical observations.

Career Possibilities

The occupational therapy profession has been growing steadily since its inception in 1917. In the past few years there has been increased demand for occupational therapists due to the changing demographics in the country and changes in the healthcare delivery system. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook states that employment of occupational therapists is projected to grow 17% from 2020 to 2030, which is faster than the average for all occupations. It also states that about 10,000 openings for occupational therapists are projected each year, on average, over the decade. Many of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace current workers. Occupational therapists work in many areas of practice with populations across the lifespan in various settings such as:

Hospitals – general, psychiatric, pediatric, cancer, neurologic, orthopedic
Schools providing K – 12 education
Private practice agencies
Home health agencies, mobile outpatient care
Outpatient rehabilitation clinics
Hand therapy clinics
Skilled nursing facilities and other residential care settings
Correctional facilities
Industrial settings
Academic institutions
Research

Requirements

Loading from UNLV Catalog…

Documents/Downloads