Two OTD students are pictured completing their capstone projects.
Who can supervise an OTD capstone student?
For students who wish to complete a clinical practice capstone, their site mentor will be a licensed occupational therapist. In those occurrences, an occupational therapist with any level OT degree (bachelor's, master's, or doctoral) is qualified to provide OTD student mentorship, especially if they have significant clinical practice experience or certifications.
For students who wish to complete a community practice capstone, their site mentor will be an individual with expertise in the identified population, setting, or content area. This may include people with appropriate professional experiences, credentials, degrees, and/or lived experiences.
Why does the student make first contact with prospective sites?
Throughout the doctoral capstone process, it's our goal for students to build confidence and competence in their abilities to be practitioners, leaders, and advocates. Building these skills will garner resilience and prepare the students to work in traditional and non-traditional settings.
How long is the OTD capstone?
The length of the doctoral capstone experience is a minimum of 14 weeks (448 hours). At WVU, this may not be completed part-time, and no more than 20% (89 hours) of the 448 hours can be completed off-site from the mentored practice setting(s), to ensure a concentrated experience in the designated area of interest. Time spent off-site may include independent study activities such as research and writing. Prior fieldwork or work experience may not be substituted for this doctoral capstone experience.
