MOT Program Director Recognized for Interprofessional Collaboration Award

Amy Kurowski-Burt, Ed.D., MOT, OTR/L, Program Director of the WVU Division of Occupational Therapy Master’s degree program, has been awarded the 2023 American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Interprofessional Collaboration Award.  

Established in 2015, the AOTA Interprofessional Collaboration Award recognizes occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants who demonstrate exemplary interprofessional collaboration in order to provide client-centered care, provide innovation in health professional education, or improve health outcomes through research. 

Dr. Burt has been instrumental in several initiatives across the WVU campuses. She is a member of the Interprofessional Education (IPE) Steering Committee within the School of Medicine, and a faculty facilitator during the IPE sessions.  

Through interdisciplinary collaborations, she has facilitated Project SCOPE ECHO focused on neonatal abstinence syndrome and the Interdisciplinary Education Apartment Simulation (IDEAS) where health sciences students work together to address the needs of a patient following discharge to home after surgery.  She has also helped to develop various interprofessional experiential learning opportunities such as DreamCatchers, an inclusive musical theater program for children with and without disabilities, Milestones, Music, and Me, an interprofessional community-based program for children 6 months- 5 years old focused on fine and gross motor skills and sensory processing.  

At the WVU Center for Excellence in Disabilities (CED), Dr. Burt provides OT services in the interdisciplinary feeding and swallowing clinic for children aged birth to 18 years old. This clinic provides services to children with complex feeding and swallowing challenges in the entire state of West Virginia. In addition, Dr. Burt mentors Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) interprofessional students through the WVU CED. The LEND program helps to promote interdisciplinary teamwork, develop rural leaders, and encourage change in the medical system while demonstrating values of equitable, inclusive, and integrative community services.   

Dr. Burt has co-authored numerous interprofessional publications and has presented her work on various platforms including university, state, and national conferences. Dr. Burt has been awarded numerous grants for interprofessional education where she has served in roles as principal investigator, co-principal investigator, and co-investigator. With her contribution and determination, interprofessional education has increased throughout the health sciences campus of West Virginia University. 

Dr. Burt will accept her honor at the AOTA Annual Conference in Kansas City, in April 2023.