Sherry Muir, PhD, has been appointed program director for the new occupational therapy doctoral program developed as a joint offering by the College of Health Professions at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), and the College of Education and Health Professions at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville (UAF).
Douglas Murphy, PhD, dean of the College of Health Professions at UAMS, and Susan Long, EdD, the college’s associate dean for academic affairs, led the effort to establish the program with Fran Hagstrom, PhD, an assistant dean in the UAF College of Education and Health Professions.
“This program addresses a real need that northwest Arkansas has for occupational therapists,” said Murphy. “This collaboration between UAMS and the U of A really emphasizes both institutions’ commitment to meeting the educational and health care needs of Arkansans.”
Both the UAF and the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville are providing space for the new program. UAMS operates a campus less than one mile from the UAF campus.
“We are excited to be able to meet the challenge of offering this training to address needs identified in a northwest Arkansas regional assessment,” said Hagstrom. “Our two institutions have several strengths that will help us build a strong program.”
The assessment identified needs for occupational services for children from birth to three; for school-aged children experiencing learning, mental health, and behavioral challenges; and for adults who experience sudden life-changing disability, chronic health conditions, and reduced ability to manage activities of everyday life because of normal aging.
“The collaboration will emphasize the importance of interprofessional education, sharing resources and preparing new occupational therapists to be active members of strong treatment teams, who work together to meet the needs of patients and communities,” said Muir.
Muir has been an occupational therapist since 1991, and began university teaching in 2003, moving to the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy in the Doisy College of Health Sciences at Saint Louis University in 2006, where she also held an appointment in the School of Medicine.
Muir has a doctorate in public policy and administration from Walden University in Minneapolis, a Master of Occupational Therapy from Texas Woman’s University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She will hold tenured positions as an associate professor at UAMS, and UAF.
Muir is nationally known for her work to establish occupational therapy in the primary care setting, a topic she has written about for a number of publications, and been invited to speak about around the country.
Her first task is to begin the accreditation process with the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. She will work to secure clinical sites for the program’s students, who will go through three levels of clinical practice before graduation. Additionally, she will begin the search for an academic fieldwork coordinator, who will be responsible for managing those clinical experiences and fieldwork sites.
Students are expected to be admitted to the program in 2019.
Murphy said he expects two locations offering the occupational therapy students clinical experiences will be the Fayetteville Outpatient Therapy Clinic, and the student-led North Street Clinic, both located on UAMS’ Northwest Regional Campus.