Discover the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program at USAHS
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) prepares students to become entry-level occupational therapists. According to faculty members Marcia Hamilton, Sean Brim and Claribell Bayona, the key difference is the capstone project, which takes students out into the community.
Capstones can land students in a hospital, a school, or elsewhere, often as program development or advocacy. OT student Alyssa G. found inspiration from her dad and by observing the mental health challenges firefighters face. Two capstone advisors and a faculty mentor supported the work and still help with writing and research.
Faculty mentors help students set up and run these programs in the community, so the OTD culminates in something new that directly serves people.
Transcript
Discover the Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program at USAHS
[00:00:00] Marcia Hamilton (OT Faculty): The OTD program still allows the person to become an entry-level occupational therapist. [00:00:05] Sean Brim (OT Faculty): It’s a little bit longer track, but it does give you the tools to open up more doors. [00:00:10] Claribell Bayona (OT Faculty): The difference is, is that with the OTD, you actually complete a capstone project and they go into the community. They can be in a hospital setting, they could be in a school setting. Whatever they find the gap is in research, they develop a project, and it could be something like program development or advocacy. [00:00:27] Alyssa G. (OT Student): I found the inspiration in my capstone, uh, through my dad. Growing up with him, I noticed certain things about firefighters mental health-wise, and I realized more needed to be done. So I started looking at how OT can fill that need. [00:00:38] Alyssa G. (OT Student): So as an OTD student, I had two capstone advisors and a faculty mentor. They were great. They’ve, they still help me to this day with writing and editing, and if I have a problem or a question about something, they’re the first ones to sit down with me and research alongside me. [00:00:52] Sean Brim (OT Faculty): As a capstone mentor, what I do is I help them, you know, basically setting up that program and helping them implement it out in the community. [00:01:02] Marcia Hamilton (OT Faculty): They actually come up with new programs.
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