Program Description

The occupational therapy doctoral degree (OTD) is a 109-credit, entry-level program that will prepare students to assist clients who are limited by physical, cognitive, psychosocial, developmental, and environmental conditions to maximize their independence and maintain optimum health through a planned mix of acquired skills, performance motivation, environmental adaptations, assistive technologies, and physical agents. They will pursue practice in acute and subacute health care facilities, the school system, early intervention programs, private practice, telehealth, and the criminal justice system.

We anticipate incorporation of cutting-edge health care concepts needed to meet contemporary and predicted health care needs, those of interprofessional/interdisciplinary training, and meeting the needs of a diverse population as well as diverse health care settings. This program will prepare students for contemporary and predicted health care in the basic medical sciences, psychology, sociology, patient assessment and evaluation, standardized and nonstandardized tests and measurements, assistive and rehabilitation technologies, ergonomics, environmental health, special education, health education and promotion, and professional standards and ethics. In addition, we will prepare students to conduct clinical research and pursue further doctoral training (Ph.D.), and will provide exemplary training in working within an interdisciplinary team, working with multi-culturally diverse populations, engaging in global health and community-based practices.

The program will admit 25 students for the fall 2021 semester and 40 students per year thereafter and offer continuous enrollment for eight consecutive semesters. The program has been designed as a full-time in-person program. Fieldwork will be integrated throughout the curriculum (for a total of 31 weeks plus the doctoral experiential, which is 14 weeks). International fieldwork placements and doctoral experiential opportunities will be available. This is not a Ph.D. program; no dissertation is required. The purpose of a clinical doctorate program is to focus on preparing practitioners with advanced clinical and leadership skills.

Classes will be held on the Newark campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in conjunction with Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. Students will complete a minimum of 960 clinical hours in appropriate settings, which can include hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, criminal justice settings, schools, and outpatient settings. Students will complete their education with a doctoral experiential with community-based entities, within the criminal justice system, and by facilitating development of novel programming at more traditional sites within the health care and school settings.