Post-Baccalaureate Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy

OTD

Post-Baccalaureate Doctor of Occupational Therapy

On Campus

Doing things we want to do, need to do and love to do allows us to live life to the fullest. As health professionals, occupational therapists work with individuals and populations to enhance, support and help restore meaningful engagement in valued activities that may otherwise be compromised by health, age, injury, illness or circumstances. Through doing, occupational therapists promote health and participation for people across the lifespan.

A student teaching first graders about backpack fitting and safety to avoid injury and prevent physical complications

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Program Overview

Our Post-Baccalaureate Doctor of Occupational Therapy program is built on a foundation of 50 years of academic excellence promoting clinical leaders within the OT field. The program is designed to be completed in 3 full-time years (including summer sessions) for a total of 115 credits.

Our curriculum consists of 4 components organized in tiers:

OT Foundations: Dynamic lectures and seminars focused on theoretical, philosophical and scientific foundations of practice
Professional Practice: Didactic component integrated with experiential learning in clinical and laboratory settings
Fieldwork or Clinicals: Two 12-week, full-time fieldwork experiences designed to prepare students for entry-level practice.
Doctoral Capstone: A 14-week doctoral capstone experience combined with a scholarly project that represents in-depth knowledge in occupational therapy.

Didactic coursework is delivered using a combination of face-to-face and online/hybrid learning.

National Board Certification

100% Pass Rate

Percentage of 2023 graduates who passed the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy exam. Information about the program's performance in the NBCOT exam may be accessed through the NBCOT website.

Our Reputation

Named a Best Grad School for Occupational Therapy

U.S. News & World Report

Ranked #3 - Best Rehabilitation & Therapeutic Professions Schools in the New England Region (2022)

College Factual

Which OT Program is Right for You?

Earning a Master of Occupational Therapy (MOT) or Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree allows you to take the national certification exam and become a licensed occupational therapist. Our degrees in occupational therapy position graduates to promote health and participation for people across the lifespan — whether you are a newcomer to the field or an experienced practitioner looking to advance your credentials.

Explore and compare our Occupational Therapy programs

Mission and Learning Outcomes

The Mission of the Department of Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University is to provide high-quality education to develop occupational therapy practitioner-scholars as well as OT scholar-leaders at both entry and advanced practice levels. In all programs, students will gain the broad-based knowledge and skills needed to influence meaningful change in the health and functioning of individuals, populations and communities.

We are recognized for programs that are models for innovative occupational therapy education; faculty who are role models of excellence in practice, service leadership, teaching and clinical scholarship; and graduates who are forward thinking, compassionate, inclusive and competent occupational therapists. We strive for excellence and endeavor to educate our students to meet and exceed our program learning outcomes.

Graduates of the occupational therapy program will demonstrate competency in:

Advocacy: Advocate for the distinct value of occupational therapy to clients, families, other professionals, community stakeholders, legislators, and national and international organizations.
OT Process and Reasoning: Apply occupational and client-centered principles and effective competency-based legal, ethical and creative reasoning to complete and evaluate the quality of the occupational therapy process for individuals, communities and populations within broader systems.
Systems and Practice Contexts: Demonstrate effective collaboration and verbal and written communication with systems stakeholders, competent performance in needs assessment, and program development using creative, mindful problem-solving for articulating and performing occupational therapy roles across traditional and emerging settings.
Evidence-Based Practice and Knowledge: Evaluate and synthesize evidence that translates to best practice for occupation-based treatment and program development.
Leadership and Professionalism: Commit to the ongoing development of leadership skills with an OT professional identity within the context of interprofessional practice.
Synthesis of Core Knowledge: Synthesize and articulate the integral relationship among occupation, health and participation.

Program Statistics

1st Breaking New Ground

This is the first post-baccalaureate doctorate program in Connecticut, built on 50 years of tradition and excellence in OT education at Quinnipiac.

4 AOTA Fellows

Being an American Occupational Therapy Association fellow provides these faculty with a vast network of information and resources for keeping pace with an evolving profession.

Program Outcomes

Graduating Year	Students Graduated/Entered	Graduation Rate
2023	17/20	85%

Graduation Rate from the past 3 years (2021-2023): 85%

Total number of students graduating: 17
Total numbers of students entering: 20

The National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy only posts the names of successful candidates. The final count of new grads taking the exam is provided at the end of the calendar year. Information about the program's performance in the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam may be accessed and verified through the NBCOT website.

Accreditation

The Quinnipiac University Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree program is accredited 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 c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is acoteonline.org.

Graduates of the program 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).

After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.