17 Dec Occupational Therapy: HU’s First Doctoral Level Program

Huntington University is preparing to launch its first doctoral-level program: in occupational therapy. Dr. Ruth Ford was hired to lead the program, and will assume the director’s role in January 2014.

Ford, who previously served as the associate dean of occupational therapy at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., comes to HU with 13 years in academia, including broad experience in the clinical and business aspects of the field. She has 37 clinical years of experience in management, acute care, rehabilitation, outpatient, long-term care, and home health. She has managed more than 500 occupational and physical therapists and speech language pathologists, and has opened multiple occupational therapy programs.

The program is being developed in a unique collaboration with Trine University, Parkview Health and the City of Fort Wayne. This doctoral program will be based in Fort Wayne, Ind., within the Life Science Education and Research Consortium of Northeast Indiana. It will build on Huntington’s undergraduate degrees in psychology, nursing, and exercise science. A bachelor’s degree and certain prerequisite courses are required for this program.

You can read more about the program on the Huntington University website.