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Full Course Details: Public course page
Learn more about our guests: Daniel Rortvedt, MS, OTD, OTR/L & Alana Woolley, OTD Student
Agenda
Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)
- 00:00:00 Intro
- 00:01:25 Course details
- 00:03:09 What is the occupational therapy doctoral capstone?
- 00:04:31 Previous research on the OT doctorate and capstone
- 00:05:54 Purpose of this paper
- 00:06:15 Methods
- 00:06:48 Results
- 00:11:55 Article Discussion and Implications
- 00:13:41 Intro to Alana Woolley and Daniel Rortvedt
Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)
- 00:17:11 Dan and Alana Backstory
- 00:20:13 Article Impressions
- 00:26:46 Advice for finding the right focus area and mentor
- 00:33:15 Advice for saying “yes” to a student?
- 00:38:13 How does the capstone experience feel different from the rest of your education?
- 00:43:09 What are 3 pitfalls mentors/mentees should avoid?
- 00:48:10 Due to capstone, have you seen a ripple effect of OT awareness?
- 00:50:19 What is one way the capstone process could be improved?
- 00:53:54 What is one piece of advice you have for capstone mentors or students?
Capstone Resources
- The OT Potential Capstone Catalog
- See Alana Woolley’s Capstone Project
Supplemental Research
- Perceived value & usefulness of the entry-level occupational therapy doctoral capstone.
- Understanding the doctoral capstone coordinator position: A unique faculty role in Occupational Therapy Education.
Article Review
Read Full Text: An Exploration of the Occupational Therapy Doctoral Capstone: Perspectives from Capstone Coordinators, Graduates, and Site Mentors
Journal: Journal of Occupational Therapy Education
Year Published: 2022
I’ll be the first to admit:
I was a non-believer in the OT doctorate.
I saw it as a way for students to spend more time and money preparing for the same jobs they could get as master’s-degree OTs.
Now, I believe I was wrong. My personal experience mentoring an OTD capstone student—combined with my takeaways from this week’s research—have converged to shift my perspective on OT education.
The article presents early-stage research on the doctoral capstone experience and resulting employment opportunities. It backs up what I have observed as a capstone mentor: that doctoral students are uniquely prepared for more diverse job opportunities. Sometimes, jobs are even created through the capstone experience.
There seems to be a benefit for the profession as a whole, especially in terms of increased awareness around OT. (Our Achilles’ heel!)
Next week on the podcast, I’ll welcome our capstone student at OT Potential, Alana Woolley, and her capstone coordinator, Dan Rortvedt. Our goal is to help you decide if you should be a capstone mentor—and to offer three different perspectives on the experience overall.
Let’s dive in.
What is the occupational therapy doctoral capstone?
Here in the United States, you must enter the field of OT practice with a doctorate or master’s degree. And, the number of entry-level doctoral programs has expanded rapidly. In 2015, there were 7 entry-level OTD programs. As of 2023, there are 95—with an additional 76 in development.
One of the key differences between master’s and doctorate OT curriculum is the “doctoral capstone experience.”
The purpose of the capstone is to provide in-depth exposure to one or more focus areas:
- Clinical practice skills
- Research
- Administration
- Leadership
- Program and policy development
- Advocacy
- Education
- Theory development
The capstone is a full-time, 14-week experience that can include onsite or offsite activities. See the full 2023 standards here (click the link to download and scroll to the “Section D” standards).
What research has already been done on the OT doctorate and capstone?
In terms of salary, per the 2018–2019 AOTA Academic Programs Annual Data Report, 76% of OTD programs reported an average starting salary of $60K-80K for their new graduates (compared to 63% of master’s programs).
Furthermore, 19% of OTD programs reported an average starting salary of $80K-100K for their graduates (compared to 3% of master’s programs).
In terms of professional preparation, this 2019 study compared one university’s master’s and doctoral programs and found that OTD graduates were significantly more likely to:
- Become educators.
- Utilize evidence-based practice.
- Conduct research.
- Own a business.
- Be involved in professional activities such as presenting, publishing, or volunteering for professional organizations.
While promising, existing research remains limited, and it becomes even more limited when we hone in on research around the capstone experience, specifically. Which leads us to this paper…
What was the purpose of this paper?
This study sought to describe the scope and efficacy of OT capstone projects—and to provide insight into resulting employment opportunities and awareness levels.
Perspectives were gathered from:
- Capstone coordinators
- OTD graduates
- Capstone mentors
What were their methods?
This was a cross-sectional descriptive design using a nationwide survey.
Two of the authors designed 3 separate surveys to gain specific perspectives from students, coordinators, and mentors. Surveys were distributed throughout the United States.
To generate quantitative results, the authors analyzed survey data using descriptive statistics in Microsoft Excel. Comments were analyzed using content analysis.
What were their results?
Surveys were collected from:
- 10 capstone coordinators (collectively representing 32 graduated cohorts and 996 students)
- 68 OTD graduates
- 22 capstone site mentors
Results from Capstone Coordinator Survey
Several stats stand out from the capstone coordinator survey, including:
- 117 of the students represented by the coordinators went on to obtain work in a setting related to their doctoral capstone (that’s almost 12%).
- 5 coordinators reported positions being created as a direct result of the doctoral capstone, impacting a total of 31 grads. Developed positions included:
- Adjunct professor
- Case manager
- Community dog agility program role
- Day program serving clients with dementia role
- Director
- Home modification/ergonomic consultant
- Member of pain clinic
- Therapist in outpatient tai chi program
- Researcher
Additional outcomes included students joining advocacy efforts, serving in roles not originally advertised to OTs, and becoming entrepreneurs.
Results from Site Mentors Survey
Standout stats from the site mentors survey include:
- 10 were occupational therapists; 12 were non-OTs.
- 95% said they were satisfied with the experience.
- 67% said they would mentor another student if given the opportunity.
- 100% of the professionals who were not OTs said the experience increased their awareness of OT.
- Collectively, the mentors said that 22 employees and 525 clients had the opportunity to learn more about OT as a result of the student’s presence.
- After concluding their mentorship, 7 respondents said they consulted with an OT professional regarding expanding the role of OT at their site.
- 1 mentor reported creating a full-time position as a result of the capstone experience.
- 2 mentors said they applied for grant funding to support future positions for OTs.
Though the majority of survey results were positive, one mentor reported that the experience did not go as planned, saying, “We learned, the hard way, that it does not work to have an OTD student provide supportive services to the staff of the organization itself…It created, or maybe just exacerbated, internal division and conflict.”
Despite this negative experience, the mentor did state they would be open to taking another OTD student and hiring an OT in the future.
Results from the Capstone Student Survey
Surveyed graduates were from 6 states, representing all regions of the U.S. Their capstones were carried out in 24 different states.
Here’s a breakdown of capstone settings by number of graduates:
- Academia – 2
- Community/Non-traditional – 17
- Home Health or Hospice – 2
- Inpatient Hospital – 13
- Long-term Care, Skilled Nursing, or Memory Care – 5
- Mental Health – 4
- Outpatient Clinic – 11
- Research Institution (Not Academia) – 2
- School or Early Intervention – 6
- Vocational Rehab – 3
- Other Healthcare Setting – 2
Here are some standout stats from the student survey:
- 35 were mentored by occupational therapists, and 26 were mentored by non-OTs, including:
- Social worker/case manager, counselor, PhD, program coordinator, administrator, PT, SLP, and facility owner.
- 91% of jobs obtained post-graduation were in traditional OT settings; the remain 9% were jobs in non-traditional settings, including:
- Business owner, case tracker, rehab technician, program specialist, research faculty, school support staff, and supervisor.
- 10 graduates obtained jobs in the setting where they conducted their capstone; 6 of those jobs were newly created positions, and 3 directly related to the graduate’s capstone.
- 8 graduates were working in positions not advertised specifically for OTs.
- 28 graduates reported working with the same population they focused on during their capstone.
- 55% felt the capstone had impacted their employment.
Discussion
In terms of employment, there are promising indicators that OTD graduates are using their OTD skills in innovative settings. Overall, 9% of OTD graduates went on to work in non-traditional settings, far above the rate of non-traditional employment identified in a more comprehensive AOTA workforce survey. Additionally, the high percentage of capstones completed in the community setting aligns with the OT profession’s push to move beyond the medical model in order to meet the needs of populations.
In terms of OT awareness, even though the sample size for this study was small, the findings demonstrate an increase in knowledge about OT as a direct result of the capstone experience. The creation of new job opportunities for OTs is an especially exciting result of that increased awareness.
Implications for Occupational Therapy
Occupational therapy educators can use this information when recruiting potential capstone site mentors.
Educators can also continue collecting additional outcomes data related to the doctoral capstone with a goal of further understanding the relationship between the capstone experience and graduates’ future practice settings, salaries, roles, and skills.
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I believe the capstone project is what is finally increasing awareness of our profession, AND encouraging OTP’s to explore unique and diverse areas of practice. As someone who has mentored over 20 capstone projects, it has been amazing to be a part of.
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