Entry-level Occupational Therapy Doctorate

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) has granted UIC’s entry-level OTD program Preaccreditation Status and will conduct an initial on-site evaluation in September 2024. UIC’s E-OTD program must be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). UIC will learn ACOTE’s decision regarding accreditation of the entry-level-OTD program in December 2024, in advance of the graduation of the first entry-level OTD cohort in May 2025. ACOTE is located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814. Its telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-2682 and its web site is www.acoteonline.org.

Following graduation and successful completion of the NCBOT exam, each graduate will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.

Entry-level OTD students engage with the community to promote occupational performance and participation in society; are prepared to practice in a variety of settings and contexts; effectively use theory and research to engage in evidence-based practice; and synthesize in-depth knowledge in a practice area to create tomorrow’s practice.

Our curriculum includes 28 didactic or seminar classroom-based courses that cover theory and evidence-based clinical practice skills, leadership, management, program development and foundations for capstone work. Twelve of the courses are taught in a block format, and typically meet for 12 hours per week for two to eight weeks. The block courses allow students to take a deep dive in a topic area and focus on a smaller number of courses at any one time. They also give faculty needed flexibility to design innovative learning experiences. Students also complete six fieldwork courses, one 14-week capstone experience and a capstone project.

If you’re an analytical thinker, a “people person,” and enjoy solving problems creatively and collaboratively, you’ll find occupational therapy to be an extremely rewarding career. OTs work to maximize the function and life satisfaction of persons whose daily life performance has been, or might be, affected by a health condition, disease, disability, life stress and other factors. Occupational therapy consists of facilitating participation in roles and activities that are important to the patient, client or family. Occupational therapy also includes teaching prevention and wellness strategies to keep people healthy, modifying home and work environments, and addressing the needs of underresourced communities.

Occupational therapy is a rewarding field that provides job opportunities in a variety of settings. Many OTs work within hospitals and outpatient clinics, but many  OTs work in nonmedical settings such as:

• School systems: Working to support students’ ability to successfully participate in their classrooms and other school environments
• Community-based organizations that support older adults: Collaborating with older adults—and their families—to support their efforts to successfully age in place and participate in their communities
• Home and community-based settings that serve pediatric clients: Working in natural settings to promote a child’s development and the occupational performance of children, families and communities

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2023 median pay for OTs was $96,370 per year.

Get ready to be taught by the best! Our faculty includes a cadre of internationally recognized educators and scholars. All faculty contribute to the entry-level OTD program and will prepare you to be a culturally responsive, client-centered and occupation-focused occupational therapist who is a leader and advocate in the profession.

Our two-year, nine-month, full-time entry-level OTD program features innovative teaching, student participation and teaching strategies that emphasize embedded, real-life learning. Case-based courses provide students with opportunities to work with faculty facilitators to analyze diverse case studies. Our program uses engaging teaching strategies such as team-based learning, flipped classroom, simulation with standardized patients, and social learning models that maximize student participation.

UIC’s first cohort of entry-level OTD students entered in fall 2022. Program outcomes for the first cohort will be available upon their graduation in 2025.

TUITION AND FEE TABLE FOR UIC ENTRY-LEVEL OTD STUDENTS

Tuition and fee rates are posted on the UIC website at https://apps.registrar.uic.edu/tuition/professional/. Tuition and fees are subject to change without notice any time prior to the first day of instruction.

Additional Expenses for the 2-year 9-month entry-level OTD program

Fieldwork: All students must be prepared to relocate for one fieldwork experience or have travel time of one hour or more to their site. Costs may include transportation to and from fieldwork site, travel, parking, housing, and meals. Costs may approximate $4,000, depending on where the site is located and if the student must pay for airfare and double rent during fieldwork.

Cost of Living: Housing costs vary greatly around the Chicago area and are hard to predict, as it depends on the kind of neighborhood a student lives in and whether they have roommates. An information packet is provided to accepted students about housing options and costs in a variety of neighborhoods.