Date: September 15, 2008
Contact: Eric Matanyi
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-4044
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: e-matanyi@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, IL, December 15, 2008 – Governors State University (GSU) recently received final approval from the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools to offer the degree of Doctor of Occupational Therapy (DrOT). The program expects to admit its first students for the Winter 2009 trimester.
Considered an advanced practice, post-professional clinical degree, the DrOT program will be offered through the university’s College of Health and Human Services, which pioneered the university’s first doctoral program, the Doctor of Physical Therapy, in 2007. Occupational therapists devise the best strategies possible for helping clients who have been injured or who are disabled adapt to their limitations so that they may live their day-to-day lives comfortably.
“I appreciate the hard work of the faculty and staff of the College of Health and Human Services,” GSU President Elaine P. Maimon commented. “Without their commitment to the community and its needs, Governors State University would not be able to provide such vital educational programming. Students in our new DrOT program can learn to become innovators in both traditional and emerging areas of occupational therapy. Our students benefit, and, in the long run, the community benefits from the expertise of these highly trained and qualified healthcare professionals.”
Distinguished as a professional doctorate, the DrOT is different from traditional Ph.D. programs that prepare students to become researchers. Professional doctorates teach future practitioners how to understand and use evidence-based practice.
“Today’s health environment demands that advanced practice-prepared occupational therapists support their work with hard evidence,” noted Dr. Beth Cada, chair of the College’s Occupational Therapy Department. “Consequently, there’s a compelling need for the “practice scholar,” the advanced practice occupational therapist actively involved in developing the most effective client-centered programs possible, while still keeping pace with the latest research.”
“A professional doctorate offers what a Ph.D. doesn’t,” said Linda Samson, Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. “It provides advanced knowledge and skills professionals need for actual practice in the discipline. We’re preparing our students to make significant contributions to the health and well-being of clients in a wide variety of settings, with a special emphasis on the care of vulnerable populations.”
The College of Health and Human Services is the university’s fastest growing college offering four baccalaureate programs, six master’s degrees, two doctoral programs, and eleven certificate programs.
For more information about the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, contact the College of Health and Human Services at (708) 534-7293.
