ECU’s first doctoral occupational therapy class sets sail

ECU's first doctoral occupational therapy class sets sail

East Carolina University has taken a huge step forward in providing world-class patient care in North Carolina through the establishment of a doctoral-level occupational therapy degree program, which officially admitted its first cohort this year.

ECU's program is the first and only occupational therapy doctorate program in the UNC System.

The five members of the first Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) class started with their peers in the master's program in fall 2023, said Dr. Nikki Hancock, a clinical assistant professor and the doctoral capstone coordinator in the Department of Occupational Therapy. The students applied to be part of the OTD track this spring and were admitted into the program starting this summer.

"We can only accept up to eight students from the 26 that we take in the master's cohort," Hancock said. "We don't take students outside of our program, it's open just to them, which is really unique to the program."

The OTD students will take some foundational courses alongside their master's-level peers but will have an additional year's worth of capstone courses focusing on leadership and advocacy, and then capstone placements. The first OTD students are set to graduate in spring 2026.

The students hail from across North Carolina and have a wide array of research interests they plan to pursue after graduation, but all share Pirate Nation's commitment to service.

The Program's First Students

Sarah Locke's path to ECU's OT program started at the piano keyboard and ran through a surgical recovery room and the OT sessions that followed. The Raleigh native graduated with a bachelor's degree in piano performance from ECU, but a lifelong commitment to playing necessitated surgeries on both wrists in the second year of her program, a result of wrestling joy from a 1,000-pound instrument.

"It's not like typing on a keyboard. I thought, 'Why don't musicians have this specialized care, because athletes get it with sports medicine?'" Locke said.

Locke has been thinking for eight years about how to use her OT training to help other musicians because there is a dearth of professional expertise to prevent injuries like the ones she recovered from.

The OT training she's received thus far has helped to keep music in her life.

"I'm not playing four to six hours a day like I was in undergrad right now; I have to be smarter about how I play in practice," Locke said. "But it's always going to be such a big piece of me."

Wake County native Jessica Creech wants to use her time in the OTD program to learn how to care for older adults with dementia, which is a growing concern with an aging population in North Carolina and across the nation. But as much as Alzheimer's, and other dementias, create significant challenges for those diagnosed, they are just as impactful on the families and friends who care for dementia patients.

"They have a lot of burden, and they need more support," Creech said.

Creech said she hopes the OTD program will give her the additional time to build the skills she will need to make an impact in the lives of her patients.

Bri Baysek is from Rockingham but spent her undergraduate years in Wilmington. She came to ECU because she wants to treat stroke patients in acute care settings and eventually impact the next generation of OT students. The OTD program will give her flexibility to pursue both paths.

"I wanted to do the doctorate because I want to teach, and I just know myself, that I wouldn't necessarily go back to school. It's a really good opportunity," Baysek said.

Courtney Zaliagiris knew she didn't need a doctorate degree to practice clinically, but her career goals extend into management and leadership positions, which the OTD program will help prepare her for. Originally from Hickory, Zaliagiris wants to focus her clinical skills on rehabilitation for babies in neonatal intensive care settings, a treatment population that she thinks many people wouldn't consider need occupational therapy services.

"I realized I wanted to work with a very niche population that you kind of need to have your foot in the door in order to actually work with," Zaliagiris said.

Ellee Hopkins found her passion for helping members of intellectually disabled communities while working as a manager for a coffee shop that provides opportunities for those with disabilities, who are all too often overlooked. The Greensboro native said the OTD program will give her an opportunity to continue her support for the intellectually disabled community through academic advocacy.

Hopkins plans to use her research to develop ways for intellectually disabled people to advocate for themselves and gain independence by learning how to use publicly available transportation like buses and ridesharing.

"A lot of them either take private van services or their parents are the most responsible for getting them around, which is a hard thing, so we're working on just finding what skill sets they have and then matching them with appropriate transportation," Hopkins said. "If an Uber fits, then we'll work on teaching them the social and safety skills to be more independent and have more autonomy."

The Value of the Program

Most of the students in the first OTD cohort said they chose ECU in part because it is the state's only public institution with a doctorate-level program, but also because of the affordability.

"I always wanted to come here, it's just a really good program, but when I heard about the OTD opportunity, that was like a cherry on top of the cake," Baysek said. "The financial aspect was huge."

The flexibility of the program was important to Hopkins, who knew she wanted to be an occupational therapist but wasn't sure that she wanted to take on the additional work for the doctoral program. It was nice, she said, to be able to settle into the OT program and then decide if it was the right community and she was the right fit.

Having completed her undergraduate education at N.C. State, a "huge school with a lot of career paths," being accepted into a cohort of 26 master's students, with the opportunity to be accepted into the even smaller OTD program, was a welcome change of pace.

"I applied to, and got accepted into, a lot of schools, and I thought it was going to be a really hard decision, but as soon as I set foot on campus here, especially interview day and talking with all of the faculty, it was instantly community," Hopkins said.

As a member of the first class, Zaliagiris said she feels like she and the other members of the cohort are blazing new trails every day because the program is still figuring itself out, but she relishes the opportunity to be on the ground floor of a promising program that is, in large part, student led.

Hancock was a member of the first cohort of her OTD program and is relatively new to academia, so she understands the position her students are in and is energized by their quality and passion. She is confident that the members of the first OTD class will contribute to their profession, and the patients that they will one day care for.

"I went through an entry level OTD program, so I felt even more driven to be in this position. I'm excited for them. I'm very excited that I get to be part of this with them," Hancock said. "They're the perfect first cohort."

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