MGH Institute Starts First Entry-Level Doctor of Occupational Therapy Degree in New England

When MGH Institute of Health Professions in Charlestown launched its entry-level Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program on June 2, it was more than a decade ahead of a 2025 target date that the profession has set for entry into the field at the doctoral level.

“We created a program in which OTD graduates will receive an education that goes beyond that of the entry-level master’s degree that most schools currently offer,” said Associate Professor and Program Director Regina Doherty, OTD, OTR/L, FAOTA, FNAP. “Our degree is designed for students who have the drive to make a difference in the profession and in society by becoming leaders who can influence best practice through research evidence, as well as deliver compassionate and collaborative care.”

The three-year, full-time degree is the first entry-level OTD offered in New England. Graduates will help fill the need to care for an increasingly elderly population and provide integrated services for school-age children with disabilities – two major factors driving growth in the OT profession.

Upon completing their studies in 2017 – the 100th anniversary of the founding of occupational therapy as a profession – graduates of this first cohort will have gained extensive preparation in practice-based research, leadership, policy analysis, advocacy, theory, and mentored fieldwork that will serve them well throughout their career.

The OTD program is part of the Institute’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS). Together with physical therapy and speech-language pathology, SHRS now offers a full complement of rehabilitation health professions education degrees.

“We have long wanted to have occupational therapy in our suite of degrees because of its importance as a collaborative profession in rehabilitation,” said SHRS Dean Leslie Portney, DPT, PT, PhD, FAPTA. “Now, all students at the Institute will have opportunities to work and learn from each other using an interprofessional model of education that has been hallmark of the Institute since its founding.”

The Institute has long been at the forefront of providing innovative and cutting-edge leading health sciences education, starting in the early 1980s when it was one of the first schools to enroll students in an entry-level Master of Science in Nursing degree. In 2000, it was an early innovator in adopting the Doctor of Physical Therapy as the terminal degree for entry-level students, and its Doctor of Nursing Practice was among the first four degrees in the country to be certified.

Employment for occupational therapists is expected to grow by 29 percent from 2012 to 2022, much faster than the average for all professions. According to the 2014 U.S. News and World Report ranking of the top 100 jobs, occupational therapy ranks 13th.

According to the 2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the median annual salary for occupational therapists is $76,940.