Offered by Occupational Therapy (OTD) - AZ (Phoenix Metro) Program
Program Director and Post-Professional Program Coordinator: Kalyn Briggs, PhD, OTR/L
College of Health Professions
Dean: Heidi Nelson, PT, DSc, DPT
The College of Health Professions offers the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) degree, an online program designed for licensed Occupational Therapists to complete their Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree.
This post-professional (PP) OTD degree is earned as 30 credits taken online at SCU and 77 credits awarded as advanced standing for the prior Occupational Therapy degree/license, for a total of 107 credits. These 30 credits obtained at SCU are taken as 20 credits of core courses and 10 credits of electives in a certification track, allowing students to tailor their OTD education to their specific interests and career goals. The program is designed for part-time enrollment over four terms, with a typical time-to-degree completion of 16 months.
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program emphasizes contemporary, evidence-based knowledge and aims to enhance clinical expertise, preparing graduates to become dynamic clinical scholars in the field of occupational therapy.
Terms 1 and 2: Focus on core courses, including Doctoral Mentorship courses. These courses are delivered in sequential 5-week blocks within each 15-week academic term, providing a structured and interactive learning experience.
Terms 3 and 4: Concentrate on elective certification tracks and the Doctoral Capstone Project. Elective courses vary in length depending on the credit hours and run concurrently with the Capstone Project, which spans 15 weeks each term.
This program is offered online, providing essential flexibility to students regardless of their geographic location. The curriculum includes a mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning formats, ensuring a balanced and accessible educational experience. Embedded elective certification tracks incorporate virtual lab experiences designed to enhance essential psychomotor and clinical reasoning skills.
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program is a transfer pathway facilitating online doctoral degree completion via SCU’s Doctor of Occupational Therapy - AZ (Phoenix Metro) program. Please refer to that program page in the catalog for additional information.
This post-professional program is fully online. All courses are online; no in-person residency is required. See State Authorization information in the University Catalog.
Our mission is to educate licensed occupational therapy practitioner students with a strong foundation in professionalism, professional reasoning, ethics, and practice skills to grow in competence as practitioners and leaders in the field of occupational therapy. Through integrative whole person health education, grounded in evidence and occupation-based practice, we prioritize health equity and the provision of client-centered care to enhance occupational performance.
Occupation-Based Practice: The graduate will be able to evaluate, plan and implement occupation-centered interventions and programs that promote health and well-being for diverse individuals, communities, and populations across the lifespan.
Client-Centered Practice: The graduate will be able to develop and implement culturally responsive, context-sensitive, client-centered care that honors autonomy, shared decision-making, and therapeutic relationship.
Integrative Health: The graduate will be able to integrate conventional and complementary intervention approaches and effectively collaborate with the interdisciplinary team to reflect client preferences, Whole Health principles, and emerging health trends.
Professional Reasoning: The graduate will be able to evaluate, plan and implement intervention plans using appropriate professional reasoning skills to address complex occupational needs and support ethical, evidence-informed clinical decisions.
Professional Development & Leadership: The graduate will be able to reflectively develop a personalized professional development and leadership plan, and will demonstrate behaviors consistent with Occupational Therapy professional identity and leadership: accountability, advocacy, and cultural responsiveness.
Evidence-Informed Practice: The graduate will be able to critically appraise relevant research to create evidence-informed interventions, projects, or protocols that demonstrate their ability to synthesize knowledge and apply evidence in innovative and ethical ways
The Program Learning Outcomes are identical to those of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - AZ (Phoenix Metro) program, as are total program credits. Courses and outcomes are mapped between the programs so that all students awarded the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree have been assessed against the same required Learning Outcomes at this professional doctoral (OTD) level.
Applicants for the post-professional OTD degree must submit the following:
- Completed application.
- Official transcripts demonstrating successful completion of an ACOTE-accredited Occupational Therapy (OT) program.
- Proof of current/active OT state licensure (OT/L).
- State licensure must be received prior to matriculation into the post-professional OTD program.
Applicants for the post-professional OTD degree must meet the following admissions requirements. Exceptions may be made individually with program coordinator approval.
- A completed master’s degree from an accredited institution (accredited by an agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education or an equivalent foreign agency).
- Occupational therapists without a master’s degree may be eligible for the Bachelor’s to Doctorate Pathway.* See below for requirements and contact an admissions advisor for additional information.
- An active license to practice as an occupational therapist (OT/L)
*Bachelors to Doctorate Pathway:
To enter the Bachelors to Doctorate Pathway, applicants must have a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy AND provide documentation of at least one (1) of the criteria below:
- Completion of an approved military or civilian post-professional OT residency or fellowship
- Completion of an approved medical specialty graduate certificate program (e.g., public health certificate, healthcare administration certificate)
- AOTA Advanced Board Certification (BCG, BCMH, BCP, BCPR); other specialty OT certifications may be accepted if they represent at least 2,000 hours of work in a field and have evidence of ongoing continuing education to maintain the certification/expertise
- At least 15 credit hours of post-secondary education toward a master’s degree
Currently licensed and registered, with a minimum of at least ten years of continuous licensure and registration maintenance (OTR/L)
Upon acceptance, students must declare their intended elective concentration. Requests to change concentration after beginning the program will be considered individually.
The post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree may be conferred upon those who have fulfilled the following requirements:
- Received 77 credits by advanced standing towards the degree through occupational therapy (OT) licensure and all other admissions and application requirements.
- Completed 30 additional credits within the required categories of post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy coursework:
- 10 credits in Clinical and Professional Skills
- 10 credits in Doctoral Mentorship and Doctoral Capstone Project
- 10 credits in an Elective Certification Track
- Completed Doctoral Capstone Project
- Earned a minimum cumulative GPA of 2. 75
- Met residency requirements
- Completed all degree requirements within 12 trimesters or 4 years of matriculation
- Submitted a Petition to Graduate
Students who meet the admissions requirements for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program receive 77 credits by advanced standing towards the 107-credit Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) degree.
Students accepted to the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program must complete a minimum of 30 credits at SCU.
The following program policies apply in addition to University attendance policy.
Students are expected to have their cameras on during live online sessions. Any student who turns their camera off during an online session and does not respond to the instructor or proctor after one attempt to reach them will be marked absent. Students should inform their instructor - in advance when possible - if there is a reason they cannot turn on their camera.
To obtain credit for a didactic course, a student must be present for at least 90% of scheduled class sessions for each course.
OTD-PP students enter the program licensed or license-eligible. While elective course series may lead to advanced certification, this post-professional program does not lead to further/enhanced OT licensure.
Jurisdictional requirements for state licensure vary and may change; students are responsible for monitoring requirements where they wish to practice ensuring they meet local qualifications.
The OTAZ 650 - Doctoral Mentorship course is completed within the first two academic terms of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program. This course guides learners in developing their scholarly doctoral capstone projects. Emphasis is placed on reviewing evidence-based practice methodologies, initiating literature reviews, conducting needs assessments, and formulating research questions. The process is collaborative and reflective, involving close interaction between learners and faculty on occupational therapy practice or research related to the learners’ chosen advanced certification. The course culminates in a proposal for implementing and evaluating the doctoral capstone project, which is reviewed by peers and faculty.
The Doctoral Capstone Project courses (OTPP 664 - Doctoral Capstone Project I and OTPP 665 - Doctoral Capstone Project II) are completed during the 3rd and 4th terms, taken alongside the elective certificate coursework. These courses guide learners in implementing a scholarly doctoral capstone project, building on knowledge gained from the Doctoral Mentorship courses and the advanced certification courses. The primary focus of these courses includes data collection, data analysis, program evaluation, discussion, and presentation of results. The capstone project will demonstrate advanced knowledge in the chosen certification area, such as clinical practice skills, research skills, administration, leadership, program and policy development, advocacy, or education.
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) - PP (Post-Professional) program may allow students to remediate F grades immediately after completion of the course; students that remediate courses in the Occupational Therapy program are awarded an RC or RF grade.
An RC (Remediation - Minimum Pass) grade indicates that a course was failed and then successfully remediated to a minimum pass grade. The original F grade is replaced on the transcript with the RC grade; both the original F and the RC grade count towards Academic Warning, Probation, and Dismissal.
An RF (Remediation - Fail) grade indicates that a course was failed and then unsuccessfully remediated. The original F grade is replaced on the transcript with the RF grade; both the original F and the RF grade count towards Academic Probation or Dismissal.
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