Program Description

The Entry-Level Army-Baylor Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program provides an accelerated, learner-centered, occupation-based, educational program that emphasizes academic excellence, life-long-scholarship, and servant leadership. This 30-month, educational program prepares doctoral-level, U.S. Army commissioned Occupational Therapy practitioners with the requisite clinical reasoning skills and professional values to be responsive to the occupational needs of persons, organizations, and populations within the military they serve.

The OTD Program is the first in the nation in which graduates will have advanced practice for upper extremity conditions, mental health, and holistic health and fitness within the federal system. 

Graduates are eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). Graduates are employed as U.S. Army Occupational Therapists in such settings as hospitals, mental health facilities, combat stress control units, operational field units, rehabilitation hospitals, out-patient settings, administrative and leadership positions within the Army community.

The Entry-Level U.S. Army-Baylor Occupational Therapy Doctoral (OTD) Program is fully ACCREDITED by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD 20814-6519. ACOTE's telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is: www.acoteonline.org.

For the graduate to sit for the national certification examination for the Occupational Therapist administered by the NBCOT, the student must complete all academic fieldwork requirements of the OTD Program.

After successful completion of this examination, the individual 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. Information about NBCOT and the certification examination can be found at www.nbcot.org. NBCOT maintains the public database of graduation rates for every accredited program.

Note: A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. An individual, who has a felony background and is considering entering an occupational therapy program, can have his or her background reviewed prior to applying for the exam by requesting an Early Determination Review.

Program Outcomes

*Based on a calendar year. Graduation rate is calculated according to ACOTE policy.

For more information about the program, please contact ArmyBaylorOTD@baylor.edu. 

Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences

The Entry-Level Army-Baylor OTD Program is sponsored by Baylor University through the Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences. Please click here for the current Baylor University Graduate Catalog.

U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence

The Entry-Level Army-Baylor OTD program is an in-residence program, housed at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Students are commissioned officers in the U.S. Army. Due to the students’ active duty obligations and association with the uniformed services, certain policies and procedures governing students are unique to this program and may be found in the current OTD Program Manual or the Individual Student Assessment Plan (ISAP) published by this graduate program.