We’ve got a lot to brag about as the most comprehensive college for Health Sciences professional programs in the region, including opportunities to interact with other healthcare fields.
Hone your skills in our new Occupational and Physical Therapy lab spaces, which opened in the John Paine Building in fall 2024. The renovation included a new pediatric lab, adult rehabilitation lab, upper extremity lab, and seminar and study rooms.
View the 94-credit entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program at Russell Sage College course details, fieldwork requirements, and doctoral capstone experience information.
Applicants should have a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.0, and should have completed the following prerequisite courses:
Additionally, students should complete and document a minimum of 40 hours of clinical observation under the supervision of an occupational therapist prior to beginning the professional program.
Application Requirements
Our doctorate program comes with a deep, Russell Sage-level of support from an assigned faculty advisor who works with you to ensure your success.
Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy
Professor of Occupational Therapy & Program Director, MSOT and OTD
Contact us for questions about our MSOT and OTD programs.
Assistant Professor of the Practice of Occupational Therapy and Assistant Academic Fieldwork Coordinator
Upon completing your Occupational Therapy doctoral degree, you’ll be eligible to take the certification exam administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, which leads to national certification and eligibility for state licensure.
Alumni of our Occupational Therapy graduate programs hold clinical and leadership roles in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, schools, private practice and community agencies across New York state and around the country. Recent employers include Albany Medical Center, St. Peter’s Health Partners, Capital District Beginnings, Anderson Center for Autism, United Health Services, and Metro Therapy.
As a student in our doctorate program in Occupational Therapy, you’ll learn in well-equipped OT labs on campus, work with real people with real medical issues in the community and complete a doctoral-level capstone experience.
As an Occupational Therapy doctoral degree candidate, you will work therapeutically with clients under the supervision of licensed occupational therapists during five fieldwork experiences: three multi-week placements in clinical and simulated settings connected with your first and second-year coursework, and two full-time, 12-week fieldwork experiences with responsibilities leading to those of an entry-level occupational therapist.
More than 400 clinical sites throughout the country host our Occupational Therapy students for fieldwork experiences.
You will also design and complete a 14-week doctoral capstone experience that combines experiential learning, scholarship, and professional service in one or more of the following areas: clinical practice skills, research skills, administration, leadership, program and policy development, advocacy, education or theory development.
Sage’s Health Sciences programs stress interprofessional education and create opportunities for future occupational and physical therapists, nurses, dietitians, mental health professionals and others to learn together, in preparation for roles on interprofessional health care teams. Our department has a leadership role in three interprofessional conferences each year, which attract hundreds of health sciences students from Sage and other colleges.
We also have an award-winning chapter of Pi Theta Epsilon, the national honor society for Occupational Therapy students.
Read more from students, faculty and alumni of our OTD program.
Emily Peters became interested in helping people with neurologic conditions to maximize their quality of life as she worked in …
Amatollah Elsirafy first learned about occupational therapy while attending community college and working at a school for children with autism. …
In 2022, Giovanna Fichera became one of the first students to earn a clinical doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Russell …
Sometimes things that seem too good to be true actually are true. For example, if you’re a caring person with …
| Cost of Attendance Doctor of Occupational Therapy Program AY 2024-2026 | ||||||||||||
| Year 1 | Total Yr 1 | Year 2 | Total Yr 2 | Year 3 | Total Yr 3 | Program total | ||||||
| Fall | Spring | Summer | Fall | Spring | Summer | Fall | Spring | |||||
| # Credits | 17 | 16.0 | 14 | 17 | 9.0 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 94 | |||
| Cost per semester | 16575 | 15600 | 13650 | 45825 | 16575 | 8775 | 4875 | 30225 | 6825 | 8775 | 15600 | $ 91,650 |
| Student Fees/yr | 850 | 850 | 850 | $ 2,550 | ||||||||
| Supplies & Book/yr | 750 | 750 | 750 | $ 2,250 | ||||||||
| Total Cost | $ 47,425 | $ 31,825 | $ 17,200 | $ 96,450 | ||||||||
How long does it take to become an occupational therapist? If you have a bachelor’s degree, it takes two to three years to earn the graduate degree required to become an occupational therapist. If you are a high school student, it takes five to seven years to earn both the undergraduate and graduate degrees required […]
Choosing a career path in occupational therapy or physical therapy means dedicating your professional life to helping people overcome mobility issues and pain and recover from illnesses and injuries. However, occupational therapists and physical therapists actually work with different populations and leverage different modalities, which means they require different educational pathways. Clarifying the Key Differences […]
