Huntington University’s Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy Celebrates 10 Years
Huntington University enrolled the first cohort of its Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy (OTD program) in fall 2014. Housed at Parkview Hospital Randallia, the program launched in Fort Wayne in cooperation with Parkview Health and the Life Sciences Research and Education Consortium of Northeast Indiana.
In the last decade, 323 students have graduated from the OTD program. A quarter of those graduates have chosen to stay and work in the Fort Wayne metropolitan area.
Community connection and impact are cornerstones of the OTD program. Through community partnerships in Fort Wayne and beyond, OTD students complete fieldwork and a doctoral capstone project before they graduate. They also get involved in community service initiatives that improve quality of life, like Go Baby Go, a national program providing mobility equipment for children. The Go Baby Go Fort Wayne chapter began with a Huntington University OTD student.
The university’s fully accredited doctoral program prepares graduates with the highest level of preparation for the field of occupational therapy, providing exposure to specialty areas and research. A student can enter the three-year entry level doctoral program directly after receiving a bachelor’s degree.
In addition to being Huntington University’s first doctoral degree offering, the OTD program represented the university’s first foray into allied health education. That interest in allied health has since expanded into other programs and locations, including a fully accredited occupational therapy assistant bachelor’s degree on the university’s home campus in Huntington, Indiana, and a second launch of the OTD program in 2021 at Huntington University Arizona in Peoria, Arizona.
The OTD program was one of the first of its kind in the United States, and it continues to be one of the best. In recognition of the OTD program’s 10th anniversary and impact on the Fort Wayne community, Mayor Sharon L. Tucker proclaimed August 25, 2024, as Huntington University Doctor of Occupational Therapy 10th Anniversary Celebration Day.
The OTD program is the 2024 Readers’ Choice Best Higher Education winner.
