OTD 2022 End-of-Year Letter

Dear Friends, Faculty, Staff, Students, and Supporters,

Baylor University's Department of Occupational Therapy is delighted to wrap up a truly memorable year. Perhaps most exciting, this December, we celebrated the graduation of our inaugural Entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) cohort! On December 17, 71 students—100% of the students who entered the program two years ago—officially became graduates of Baylor University with their OTD degrees.

I would encourage you to read this fun Q&A with new alumna Kellam Addison-McQuitty, who because of a last name that is alphabetically first in line, was the very first Baylor University OTD graduate. Kellam shares a glimpse of her experience and what it was like to be in that initial OTD cohort.

Earlier this year, we also celebrated the notification that the Department’s Entry-level Occupational Therapy doctoral degree had received full accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). This activated our graduates’ eligibility to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). Our newest alumni are preparing for the exam at this very moment! You may read the full news release about our accreditation notification here.

In August, we welcomed a cohort of 18 Post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (PPOTD) students into our newly revised program. Embracing the future of occupational therapy education and practice, three new courses were developed that focus on hybrid teaching and learning for the clinic and classroom. Our students complete this fully online program in 16 months with opportunities to gain teaching experience by joining us in Waco as adjunct faculty. We look forward to next December when our PPOTD students will join our Entry-level students as they walk across the stage at graduation. You can learn more about the PPOTD program here.

And finally, while we celebrate these important milestones, we also recognize the many accomplishments of our faculty throughout the year. Faculty in Baylor’s Department of Occupational Therapy are not only gifted and experienced teachers and clinicians, but they are also talented researchers and scholars. The 2022 calendar year was marked by an exceptional surge of scholarly work by the Occupational Therapy faculty. You can check out scholarly highlights from throughout the year here.

Thank you for your support and partnership throughout 2022. We look forward to the New Year—even as welcome a new cohort of Entry-level OTD students to the program in January—and the opportunities to come.

Marian Gillard, PhD, OTR, FAOTA
Chair, Program Director, and Clinical Associate Professor
Department of Occupational Therapy
Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences
Baylor University