Tia Hughes, OTD, MBA, OTR/L – St. Augustine Campus

Dr. Tia Hughes joined the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in June 2020 as Associate Dean of the College of Rehabilitative Sciences for Occupational Therapy. Dr. Hughes has been a faculty member and academic leader at AdventHealth University in Florida since 2002, serving as the Program Director for the occupational therapy programs. Her clinical experience includes settings such as acute care hospitals, outpatient clinics, inpatient rehab hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and public schools. Dr. Hughes’s research interests include adult physical rehabilitation, disabled driving, OT in the penal system, and vision therapy.

She is a member of the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education and has been published by local and state organizations. Dr. Hughes also has authored several chapters in Occupational Therapy for Children and Youth under IDEA, 3rd Ed. (2007), Foundations of Theory and Practice for the Occupational Therapy Assistant (2017) and Guest Editor for DiZazzo-Miller & Pociask’s Preparing for The Occupational Therapy Assistant National Board Exam: 45 Days and Counting (2017).

She earned a BS in occupational therapy from the University of Florida at Gainesville, an MBA with emphasis on health care administration from Southern Adventist University, and an OTD from Nova Southeastern University.