OTD Academic Program

The traditional weekday format of the program consists of seven semesters completed over a 36-month period. Click below to go to the OTD Course Schedule Detail and Course Descriptions in the Belmont University Graduate Catalog.

Fieldwork education is designed to provide occupational therapy students with opportunities to integrate academically acquired education with practice. It is during the fieldwork experience that the student can learn, practice and refine skills of observation, evaluation, treatment planning, implementation and communication. In the fieldwork setting the student begins to define his or her future roles as a practicing occupational therapist and can develop the necessary self-confidence and effective characteristics essential to meeting the demands for this challenging field. Fieldwork provides many opportunities for feedback which promotes professional behaviors and attitudes and clinical expertise.

Fieldwork is an integral part of the education of an occupational therapist. Fieldwork must occur in an environment that provides experiences which reinforce previous learning and which challenge and motivate the student to develop professionally and adapt to clinic situations.

The School of Occupational Therapy coordinates fieldwork opportunities for students at locations in Tennessee and across the United States within regulatory guidelines established by each state. International opportunities may also be available. Belmont University is part of the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA) which guides placement in most states.

The academic fieldwork coordinator is responsible for the planning and implementation of integrated and sustained fieldwork experiences. The experiences occur under the supervision of and with the support of occupational therapists or other qualified individuals. To ensure that the fieldwork activities support and enhance the goals of the program there is continual collaboration by clinical educators, academic faculty, and the academic fieldwork coordinator.

In keeping with Belmont University's occupational therapy program's mission and curriculum design, fieldwork will be directed toward meeting the goals of education for practice, advocacy, and research. The fieldwork experiences are designed to encourage values and behaviors that exemplify professional leadership, integrity, and social consciousness; these values/behaviors support the program's goals to develop ethical practitioners to meet the immediate and future needs of the community.

The occupational therapy program requires both Level I and Level II fieldwork experiences. Level I fieldwork is an integral part of the didactic portion of the educational program. Students are exposed to diverse practice settings to increase their understanding of occupational therapy. Level II fieldwork is the culminating educational experience for the Belmont University occupational therapy student.

Starting in the spring of the first year, students begin the first of three Level I fieldwork experiences. Students engage in directed observation and participate at clinical fieldwork sites where they can begin to apply principles taught in previous and concurrent coursework.

Level I Fieldwork

Level I fieldwork is designed to provide experience in a variety of cultures and service delivery systems for each of the developmental stages, including childhood, adulthood and older adulthood.

The experiences include opportunity to observe and assist in practice with occupational therapist practitioners and other qualified personnel in coordination with the academic faculty. The sites may include contemporary practice areas such as Exceptional Education classrooms, juvenile court programs, homeless shelters, group homes and other community agencies as well as traditional medical model environments. The purpose is to expose you to new opportunities for occupational therapy, to identify the role of the advocate and to explore questions for research.

Your preparation prior to each Level I clinical experience includes review of professional behaviors, safety procedures related to student and clients/patients, objectives, and assignments for the individual fieldwork experiences.

Students may be required to travel up to 1 hour for fieldwork placements, however, the majority of placements are within a 30 – 45 mile range of the Nashville area.

Level II Fieldwork

Upon completion of all of their academic work, students then enter the community to apply their knowledge, skills and abilities through completion of their Level II Fieldworks. Belmont has established over 800 clinical sites in occupational therapy across the United States.

The goal of Level II fieldwork is to develop competent, generalist occupational therapists.

Level II fieldwork includes an in-depth experience in delivering occupational therapy services to clients. During this experience you will get to apply what you've learned in the classroom to occupational therapy intervention programs for clients in a wide variety of traditional and emerging practice settings.

During Level II fieldwork, you will have opportunities to enhance clinical reasoning and reflective practice, model professional behaviors, and develop and expand a repertoire of occupational therapy assessments and treatment interventions related to human performance.

Level II fieldwork for the OTD program at Belmont University consists of two twelve week experiences. Level II fieldwork (OTD 6480) is taken in the summer after the second year (students will register for the course in the spring and the fieldwork experience may begin the last week of the spring semester).

Students must complete all fieldwork and experiential component requirements within 24 months following completion of academic work.

In the final semester students complete their Capstone project. Successful completion of the Capstone depends on the student's ability to integrate the four curricular themes of Clinical Excellence, Scholarship, Service and Leadership to affect a positive social change.

The Capstone is an integral part of the program’s curriculum design and includes an in-depth experience in one or more of the following: clinical practice skills, research skills, administration, leadership, program and policy development, advocacy, education, or theory development.

Guided advisement and reflection is started in the student’s first semester. Coursework and faculty mentorship facilitates the student ‘s  creation of a learning plan tailored to their values, interests, and goals and contributes to the student's development of  both generalist and advanced skills in occupational therapy.  The student’s individual learning plan must reflect connections to the curricular themes of scholarship, leadership, service or clinical excellence and to their culminating project completed in the Spring of Year 2.  A faculty mentor and expert mentor will supervise and assist the student during the Capstone to successfully complete their individualized learning plan. 

As a requirement of the doctorate of occupational therapy degree, students will complete a 14 week (560 hour) Capstone project.  The student must successfully complete all didactic coursework, fieldwork I and II’s, as well as a competency prior to proceeding to the Capstone.  Fieldwork hours cannot be applied towards the Capstone hours.

Students must complete their Level II fieldwork and Capstone within 24 months of completing their didactic coursework.

2020 and 2021 Capstone Projects

Belmont Digital Repository OT Collection: https://repository.belmont.edu/ot/

Click on linked Capstone titles below for a summary of each Capstone project prior to 2020.

2019 Capstone Projects

2018 Capstone Projects

2017 Capstone Projects

2016 Capstone Projects

2015 Capstone Projects

2014 Capstone Projects

2013 Capstone Projects

2012 Capstone Projects

Graduates are able 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). Most 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 be eligible to take the national certification examination or obtain state licensure.

Belmont University and the School of Occupational Therapy are committed to the success of each of our occupational therapy students and graduates. Program performance data on the NBCOT National Certification Exam for all schools is available on the NBCOT website.

Student Graduation Rates

The total number of graduates from Belmont University Doctorate of Occupational Therapy program during the 3-year period of 2020-2022 was 108, with an overall graduation rate of 100%.

*Number who graduate within 150% of the published length of the program in a given calendar year

Program results from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) can be found online at https://secure.nbcot.org/data/schoolstats.aspx

Employment Placement

The OTD graduate typically has job offers at the time of graduation in Occupational Therapy. Employment placements include hospitals, school systems, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, out-patient clinics, and other settings.

The Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program at Belmont University is designed to help you develop expertise across four central themes: Clinical Reasoning and Practice Application; Leadership; Service; and Scholarship.

Today’s healthcare and wellness initiatives require occupational therapists to be well equipped to meet the diverse needs of their consumers and evolving industries. As leaders in the profession, you will be called upon to help shape the profession, to help design and deliver programs, to create new innovations, and to build on current practice.

This program will take you from a generalist skill level to an area of advanced practice of your choosing. Your educational journey starts out with a cohort of OT classmates and faculty that supplement your learning. The fieldwork coordinator works closely with you to select the best fieldwork I and II settings to integrate classroom learning with clinical skill development. The advance practice selection will be guided through faculty, fieldwork coordinator, and supervisors input as well as an expert mentor that will work closely with you during your residency or experiential component after all coursework is completed.