Rutgers OTD Program

Rutgers OTD Program Rutgers Entry Level Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program

School of Health Professions

65 Bergen Street Newark, NJ

Inaugural Class Started Fall 2021

From October 25–30, Rutgers was proudly represented at the ACRM Annual Conference and EXPO, with several of our outstand...
11/06/2025

From October 25–30, Rutgers was proudly represented at the ACRM Annual Conference and EXPO, with several of our outstanding faculty and staff presenting their work! Read below to find out more ⬇️

Not only is Dr. Noce one of Rutgers OTD’s assistant professors but, she is also the Secretary of the newly formed Spatial Neglect Task Force! She presented a symposium and two oral presentations at ACRM:

Symposium: Overcoming Challenges in Stroke Rehabilitation by Integrating AI and Technology Throughout the Care Continuum 

Oral Presentation: Risk of In-hospital Falls Among Stroke Patients with Spatial Neglect May Be Reduced After Prism Adaptation Treatment 

Oral Presentation: An Examination of In-hospital Falls Among Stroke Patients with Spatial Neglect

Dr. Mortera is an associate professor in the Rutgers OTD, and has expertise in neurological and cognitive rehabilitation. Dr. Mortera is a co-chair of the Complementary Integrative Rehabilitation Medicine Networking Group! At ACRM, Dr. Mortera presented a symposium and oral presentation:

Symposium: Finding Better Tools: A New Appraisal Rubric to Enhance Your Clinical Measurement Decisions

Oral Presentation: Measurement strategies for community participation: A scoping review. 

Professor McNair is an assistant professor in the Rutgers OTD program, and is well known for her work on the SCI True Grit program. She is the Secretary of the SCI-ISIG as well as incoming chair of the Poster Subcommittee. She presented a poster presentation about True Grit at ACRM:

Poster Presentation: True Grit SCI: Evaluation of a Community-based Residential Summer Program for Young Adults with Spinal Cord Injury

Congratulations to these faculty members for an outstanding job! 👏🎉

In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, we’re proud to share moments from our Rutgers OTD students’ involvement with ...
10/17/2025

In honor of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, we’re proud to share moments from our Rutgers OTD students’ involvement with Club DREAMS, an enrichment center dedicated to empowering individuals with Down syndrome. Through a variety of inclusive programs, like yoga, art, cooking, and job skills training, Club DREAMS fosters a supportive environment for socialization, learning, and personal growth. From the excitement of “DREAMS After Dark” social events to the creativity of art and dance sessions, our students are fortunate to work alongside this incredible community, helping individuals with Down syndrome thrive in a space built on inclusion, support, and fun. Happy Down Syndrome Awareness Month! 💙💛

10/17/2025

At Rutgers, we believe play is crucial for every child's development and autonomy. By adapting toys, individuals can creatively modify them to meet each child's unique needs, fostering inclusion, engagement, and joy in every play experience! 🎮💛

Our second-year OTD students showed their support for Down Syndrome Awareness Month by “chalking the walk”! 💙✨ This mont...
10/16/2025

Our second-year OTD students showed their support for Down Syndrome Awareness Month by “chalking the walk”! 💙✨ This month, we’re highlighting the importance of inclusion, accessibility, and celebrating individuals with Down Syndrome. Let’s work together to create inclusive spaces where everyone thrives.

CONGRATULATIONS to our Class of 2026 as they embark on the next part of their OTD journey, Fieldwork II. This past week,...
12/17/2024

CONGRATULATIONS to our Class of 2026 as they embark on the next part of their OTD journey, Fieldwork II. This past week, we celebrated their progress and accomplishments with a pinning ceremony and mark the halfway point of the program for them. To the Class of 2026, we wish you all the best of luck at your placements! You are going to do great things!

And just like that our first years become second years! Congratulations to our RU OTD class of 2026 for completing their...
08/02/2024

And just like that our first years become second years! Congratulations to our RU OTD class of 2026 for completing their first year of the program.

This past week, our OTD ’25 students learned about and explored kits created by Dr. Emily Balog for Project PROTECT. Pro...
07/12/2024

This past week, our OTD ’25 students learned about and explored kits created by Dr. Emily Balog for Project PROTECT. Project Preparedness, Response, Recovery: Occupational Therapists in Emergency Contexts Training (Project PROTECT) is designed to equip OTPs and students with the necessary knowledge and skills to assist community members in personalized emergency/disaster preparedness and management. Efforts for Project PROTECT are led by Dr. Balog, who has pervious experience in disaster preparedness and continues to ensure an evidence-based approach to force multiply readiness in communities. While OTD students unpacked and explored the kits to understand what emergency/disaster preparedness could need, they were also challenged to think about additional items needed based on case studies. Thank you Dr. Balog for sharing this knowledge and resource to the OTD students.

Huge congratulations to the inaugural class of future occupational therapists graduating from Rutgers this year! You’ve ...
05/21/2024

Huge congratulations to the inaugural class of future occupational therapists graduating from Rutgers this year! You’ve dedicated yourselves to helping others to participate in the occupations that are meaningful to them. Your hard work and passion for community-based occupational therapy inspires all of us! Congratulations!

As we celebrate graduation season, we also celebrate our three Capstone award winners! Award #1: Leadership, advocacy, ...
05/20/2024

As we celebrate graduation season, we also celebrate our three Capstone award winners!

Award #1: Leadership, advocacy, and collaboration – Natalia Morales
* This award is granted to the student project that recognized the importance of collaboration, vision, communication, and lifelong professional development in carrying out effective professional relationships and enacting leadership roles. Leadership in this view focused on the habits of character, service, innovation, and wisdom, applied to informal, emergent, and traditional leadership roles.
* Project: Community Outreach Strategies for Increasing Referrals to Low Vision Programs: A Multifaceted Approach

Award #2: Community-based and contextual practice – Taylor Beverly
* This award is granted to the student project that recognizes the interaction of social, political, economic, cultural, physical, and temporal contacts on occupational engagement. It focuses on the concept of community as it influences and is influenced by participation in occupation for individuals and groups. 
* Project: Bridging the gaps in LGBTQ Service Delivery for Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Award #3: Rigorous inquiry, scholarship, and innovation – Melanie Wright
* This award is granted to the student project that demonstrated inquiry, scholarship, and innovation. Inquiry is fostered through the understanding of various research methodologies, the applications of those methodologies to practice and active engagement in scholarly endeavors. The skills of inquiry are applicable to issues of scholarship about occupation, evidence-based practices, and the ongoing systematic appraisal of the relevance of those practices to individual clients as well as the communities and context in which they participate. 
* Project: NEXUS: Autistic Adult Micro-Clubhouse to Support Transitions

✨Part 2/2 (Oral Presentations) ✨ On Thursday May 2nd, our graduating cohort (Class of 2024) participated in the first an...
05/07/2024

✨Part 2/2 (Oral Presentations) ✨ On Thursday May 2nd, our graduating cohort (Class of 2024) participated in the first annual Rutgers OTD Capstone Conference. Students chose between an oral presentation or a poster presentation. Our students were able to showcase the evidence-based projects that they worked on over the 14-week capstone experiential. Special thanks to our amazing community partners who hosted our students, including Back Home Safely, Vision Loss Alliance of NJ, Action Tank Philadelphia, Team Foster, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation, Sharp Rehabilitation, RWJ Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center, Children’s Specialized Hospital, Crosswinds by Legacy Treatment Centers, Neurotech R3, ABLE Adults, RAIN LGBT Shelter, Covenant House, and the Boggs Center LEND Fellowship Program.

✨Part 1/2 (Poster Presentations) ✨ On Thursday May 2nd, our graduating cohort (Class of 2024) participated in the first ...
05/07/2024

✨Part 1/2 (Poster Presentations) ✨ On Thursday May 2nd, our graduating cohort (Class of 2024) participated in the first annual Rutgers OTD Capstone Conference. Students chose between an oral presentation or a poster presentation. Our students were able to showcase the evidence-based projects that they worked on over the 14-week capstone experiential. Special thanks to our amazing community partners who hosted our students, including Back Home Safely, Vision Loss Alliance of NJ, Action Tank Philadelphia, Team Foster, JFK Johnson Rehabilitation, Sharp Rehabilitation, RWJ Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center, Children’s Specialized Hospital, Crosswinds by Legacy Treatment Centers, Neurotech R3, ABLE Adults, RAIN LGBT Shelter, Covenant House, and the Boggs Center LEND Fellowship Program.

Yesterday, our 3 years presented their posters for their doctoral capstone project at the BIANJ conference! Congratulati...
05/02/2024

Yesterday, our 3 years presented their posters for their doctoral capstone project at the BIANJ conference! Congratulations to Marise, Hareem, Erin, and Sarah on this great accomplishment!

Topics included:
- Usability and Feasibility of Hybrid R3THA Model in a Community Based Clinic (Marise)
- Building Bridges in Brain Injury Caregiving (Sarah)
- Developing Student Collaboration Skills in an Interprofessional Head Injury Clinic (Erin)
- Student Perspectives of Individual Versus Collaborative OT Services in a Community (Hareem)
- Validation of R3THA™ Kinematic Assessment Protocol in Neurorehabilitation for Children with Cerebral Palsy (Marise)

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Newark, NJ
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