Early Admission Decision application deadline: June 8, 2012
Final application deadline: July 23, 2012
The semester begins: September 4, 2012

The post-professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program is designed to provide meaningful, obtainable, and affordable post-professional education and facilitate the development of the 21st century occupational therapist practitioner. The goal of Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions is to address the public's need for high quality occupational therapy service by providing practicing clinicians with opportunities to develop knowledge, skills, and behaviors commensurate with evidence-based practice (EBP) and emerging educational standards. The primary purpose of the program is to raise the knowledge base of practicing occupational therapists to equal that of the new entry-level OTD degree.

The post-professional OTD program with the elective track in Aging will consist of core courses and specialty courses designed to broaden the student's perspective. Core courses include topics such as EBP principles, EBP interventions, occupation-centered theory and practice, evidence-based decision-making, the Occupational Therapy Practice Framework, occupational science, and pharmacology. Aging track courses include topics in the psychosocial and biological dimensions of aging as well as the neuropathological changes associated with degenerative disease states such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. In addition, the program will highlight the areas of marketing and administration, educational techniques, and applied research to ensure excellence in the field of occupational therapy. Potential students for the OTD program include those with entry-level bachelor's or master's degrees in occupational therapy. Students may be practitioners or academicians interested in raising their knowledge base, expanding their practice area, or seeking advancement within their current setting.

The OTD program is committed to the development of the occupational therapist who can:

• Apply the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to make independent judgments about the validity of research and implement evidence-based clinical practice.
• Influence local, regional, national, and international policy, practice, and education through advocacy, consultation, and practice of occupational therapy with individuals, populations and organizations.
• Exercise high-level curiosity, critical thinking, continuous learning, reflection, and analytical methodologies to seek and use resources and evidence to improve effectiveness of clinical interventions.
• Apply ethical theories and legal standards to decision-making regarding healthcare issues.
• Exchange and disseminate knowledge through consultation, peer-reviewed publication and presentation, collaboration, and collegial and interdisciplinary dialogue.
• Develop and implement theoretically and philosophically sound clinical interventions informed by scientific evidence, contextual influences and clinical knowledge.