The curriculum for a Post-Professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy (PP-OTD) combines required and elective courses to ensure that students have a similar foundation for success while specializing in an area of their choosing. The required courses prepare students to develop programs, become leaders, explore entrepreneurship, provide evidence-informed care, and take on faculty roles. A strand within the required courses enables students with their chosen faculty mentor to develop, refine, and implement their substantive doctoral project. The doctoral project-related courses are taken sequentially. Students choose electives that match their interests and goals from a menu of options at Jefferson, within the PP-OTD program and the Advanced Practice Certificates. These include topics such as autism, coaching, cultural humility, leadership, neuroscience, and teaching adults. The program can be completed on a part-time (1-3 credits per semester) or full-time (4-6 credits per semester) basis, which affects the length of completion of the program. Students may change from full-time to part-time status and vice versa at any time. The program must be completed within seven years from initial enrollment. All classes can be completed entirely online.
Length: Minimum of 40 months full-time
Requirements: Students who have earned a bachelor's in occupational therapy and who have not earned a master's degree enroll in the Earned BS in OT to PP-OTD, which requires a minimum of 43 credits. Twelve of these 43 credits are electives. Students can apply their completed Advanced Practice Certificate credits (up to 12 credits) to the PPOTD program as electives.
| University of North Carolina Evidence-Based Practice Tutorial (each semester) | 0 | |
| OT603 | Research Methods and Mentorship | 4 |
| OT680 | Leading Edge Occupational Therapy Practice | 3 |
| OT681 | Advanced Occupational Therapy Practicum * |
6 |
Note: Once a student has completed these 13 credits, they continue their degree through the Earned Master's Degree to PP-OTD curriculum.
Length: Minimum of 30 months full-time
Requirements: Students who have earned a Master's degree in occupational therapy OR a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy and a master's degree in another field enroll in the Earned Master to PP-OTD, which requires a minimum of 30 credits. Twelve of these 30 credits are electives. Students can apply their completed Advanced Practice Certificate credits (up to 12 credits) to the PP-OTD program as electives.
| OT778 | Advanced Evidence-Based Practice | 3 |
| OT782 | Leadership: Moving Beyond Traditional Roles | 3 |
| OT727 or OT770 | Visionary Practice Development and Evaluation or Knowledge Translation to Promote Best Practice | 3 |
| OT798 | Foundations for Post-Professional Doctoral Work | 1 |
| Total Core Credits | 10 |
| OT779A | Exploratory Seminar in Clinical Research | 3 |
| OT809 | Planning the Doctoral Project | 3 |
| OT810 | Post Professional Doctoral Capstone | 5 |
| Total Core Credits | 11 |
Select four elective courses for a total of 9 credits from the menu of offerings. If the four courses are within the same advanced degree certificate, the student will earn an Advanced Practice Certificate in addition to their PP-OTD.