The Doctor of Occupational Therapy program prepares scholar-practitioners for entry-level practice. Graduates of this program are well-rounded generalists prepared to work in a variety of settings.
MISSION STATEMENT: The Mission of The Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program is to prepare practitioner-scholars who empower and improve the lives of clients, communities, and populations through inclusive interprofessional education demonstrating occupation and evidenced-based practice.
Values:
- Engagement in meaningful activities is a human right.
- Diversity increases value, perspective, and understanding.
- Interprofessional education opportunities foster inclusivity, personal and professional growth.
- Support and encourage personal and professional development of our students, clients, colleagues, and community.
Philosophy of the Program: The entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy program is based on the impact of meaningful occupational engagement on well-being, health, and quality of life. Occupational therapy focuses on engagement in meaningful occupations that supports being an active participant in life (AOTA 2017).
The ETSU Doctor of Occupational Therapy program will prepare practitioner-scholars to “be prepared to effectively communicate and work interprofessional with those who provide care for individuals and/or populations in order to clarify each member’s responsibility in executing components of an intervention plan” (ACOTE, 2012, pp. S6–S8).
The ETSU Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program will focus on the needs of the client, (individuals, communities, and populations) identifying barriers to occupational engagement, improving client-centered care, and collaborating with clients, communities, professionals, and populations to determine goals for resuming and/or improving participation in meaningful occupational engagement (AOTA, 2014).
We believe in:
- Occupations being fundamental to wellness and health promotion for all beings.
- Each individual is a complex being and should be viewed through a holistic lens.
- Modeling clinical excellence and engaging students in service and scholarly inquiry in order to develop well prepared entry-level practitioner-scholars.
- Instilling students with the skills to become self-reflective life-long learners who are driven to become expert practitioner-scholars and leaders in the field of occupational therapy.
- Engaging students in interprofessional education, immersive community learning opportunities, and the pursuit of knowledge through scholarly inquiry.
- Demonstrating respect for other professions, a servant’s heart for underserved populations, and an intrinsic desire to propel the profession forward.
- A community of justice, equality, and respect for all beings.
Philosophy of Learning
Occupational therapy education promotes the integration of research, service, professionalism, ethics, theory, and evidence-based practice. Students and educators are occupational beings engaged in a diverse and dynamic learning environment in which learning is the primary occupation to knowledge acquisition and development of professional distinctiveness.
An interactive method to pedagogy delivery is applied in a learner-centered approach in the overall OTD education. Acknowledging the uniqueness of each student and viewing students as active learners instead of passive recipients of information guides the educational approach of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy at East Tennessee State University. Significant learning is achieved when a change in the learner occurs. This transformation is accomplished through sound foundational knowledge, application, integration, and metacognition (Fink, 2013).