With a passion for improving the lives of others and a belief in the power of holistic health care, you aim to make a difference. As an occupational therapist, you can tap into these interests, and Drake’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) is your path to this meaningful career.

Drake’s accelerated, three-year OTD—and Pre-Occupational Therapy track for undergraduates—is designed with the future of health care in mind. As the demand for occupational therapists grows, you will be ready to meet those needs, backed by Drake’s tradition of educational excellence in the health sciences. That legacy is rooted in a learning experience that takes place in the classroom and in the field, and emphasizes technical knowledge and the interpersonal skills necessary to be an effective health care provider and innovative leader in occupational therapy.

But the Drake experience is about more than education; it’s about being part of a supportive and loyal community. You’ll gain individualized attention from expert faculty and staff invested in you and your future, developing relationships that last far beyond graduation.

View the tuition and additional fees for the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program.

The first cohort of Drake University OTD students graduated in May 2019. Outcome data for future classes is not yet available. The total number of graduates during the 3-year period of 2017-2019 was 26, with an overall graduation rate of 100%.

*Data will be entered as classes graduate and complete the NBCOT.

**Graduation rate: The total number of students who graduated from a program within 150% of the published length of the program, divided by the number of students on the roster who started in the program.

Program results from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) can be found online at https://www.nbcot.org/en/Educators/Home#SchoolPerformance

ACCREDITED DOCTORAL-DEGREE-LEVEL OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY PROGRAM

The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its Web address is www.acoteonline.org. Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. Students must complete Level II fieldwork and experiential requirements within 24 months following completion of the didactic portion of the program.