Doctor of Occupational Therapy

As an occupational therapist, you can bring positive change every day as you inspire people to achieve their goals. You’ll work with clients in all stages of life and in a variety of settings that may include clients’ homes, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, community settings and more. By investing in a Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree from Edgewood College, you’ll begin your work as an OT sooner and with an advanced degree that opens doors to additional professional opportunities. The occupational therapy field will continue to grow over the next decade, with tens of thousands of occupational therapists needed in communities across the country.

 

With your Doctor of Occupational Therapy degree from Edgewood College, you can pursue meaningful careers as an Occupational Therapist in settings like these:

Pediatric Clinics
Schools
Mental Health Facilities
Assistive Tech Centers
Hospice and Palliative Care
Private Practice

The Dominican values of our founders in 1927, the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, continue to provide the blueprint of our mission today. With our strong reputation of commissioning compassionate difference makers in the health care field, the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program at Edgewood College aligns with our passion for building professional and personal meaning in the world - one student and one experience at a time. Our program emphasizes the values of the College - truth, community, and justice. Our goal is for students to apply what they learn in the program to their own communities to see where occupational therapy can make a difference in the lives of those who are underserved by health care.

Kelly Alig
Program Director
Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program
kalig@edgewood.edu

 

"I have been an occupational therapist for 31 years, and I am still enamored by the profession and all the great work practitioners do to collaboratively to help people live their lives on their own terms. I have found that a good occupational therapist devotes their undivided attention to the client during the entirety of the session, listening, meeting the client where they are, and making the person feel they are the most important priority in the world. The difference made by the therapist is not in merely helping the client but empowering the client to successfully participate in life through returning to old occupations and developing interest in new ones.

As an occupational therapist, I have felt honored to work in a partnership with someone who is likely experiencing one of the most challenging times in life. The person receiving occupational therapy, the client, is regarded as the key focus of the therapy process. However, occupational therapists know that others surrounding and supporting the client are also very important. Throughout my career, I have witnessed amazing success stories of human motivation and perseverance. The story may begin with one but requires many along the way.

It is a privilege to prepare students to become the next generation of practitioners to assist clients through their challenges.  At Edgewood College, the Dominican values of truth, community, justice, compassion, and partnership - and their meaning - easily align with what the profession of occupational therapy embodies and strives for. I feel the OTD program is a natural fit for Edgewood."

The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program has applied for accreditation and has been granted Preaccreditation 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 ℅ AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must 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).