Thinking about a career in Occupational Therapy?

Choose one of the best careers in healthcare with an OTD from NAU

The Department of Occupational Therapy at Northern Arizona University offers the only entry-level occupational therapy doctorate at a public, non-profit university in the state of Arizona. Our program is fully accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).

Accredited programs that offer an OTD must meet minimum requirements by ACOTE, similar to a master’s program. A doctoral degree is typically longer and requires that a student completes a capstone experience and capstone project.

Additionally, ACOTE requires additional standards for an OTD program to focus on clinical practice skills, research skills, administration, leadership, program and policy development, advocacy, education, and theory development. NAU’s program meets all of these requirements.

The admissions process and requirements are different for both degrees. To apply for a doctorate program, a student must hold a baccalaureate degree, or higher, prior to admission, whereas that is not the same for a master’s program. For more information about our admissions process, visit the OT admissions page.

Why NAU OT students selected a doctorate

Recent graduates report that they selected an OTD rather than an MSOT for the following reasons: