Rondalyn Whitney, WVU Division of Occupational Therapy, and Guy McCormack, University of the Pacific, have collaborated to showcase the quality of scholarship and provide a rich discussion on how capstone experiences and projects for clinical doctoral degrees in occupational therapy are used to advance knowledge of the profession and practice of occupational therapy.
This special issue for the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy focuses on student capstone manuscripts and occupation. “We wanted to provide a collection of thinking that will inform, enrich, and articulate the unique value of our profession’s scholarship. During these unprecedented times, we need to take unprecedented actions because there will be a new ‘normal’ for occupational therapy as we go forward. Perhaps it is no accident that the universe has arranged this special issue to appear during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic that presents our profession with both challenges and opportunities,” Whitney said.
Whitney’s exceptional accomplishment is especially timely as the Division of Occupational Therapy transitions to offer the entry-level doctoral program at WVU.
In preparing this special issue, Whitney conducted interviews of four of the profession’s most eminent leaders for the popular “They Said” article. This compilation of celebrated leaders in the profession brings a rich body of more than 100 years of experience to the discussion of the doctoral capstone experience and capstone project in occupational therapy education. Importantly, these interviews offer potent insights for the education of the profession’s next leaders in the context of unprecedented health pandemic and social justice activism. Readers will see sage advice reflected in their responses.
Her scholarship focuses on maternal stress and mother-child interactions when raising a child with a mental, behavioral or developmental disorder. Focusing on the co-regulation of the child, the story of adverse childhood experience, family quality of life and occupational deprivation, is a unique perspective in her work.
Whitney is the director of Faculty Scholarship and Development, associate professor for the Division of Occupational Therapy in the School of Medicine and a member of the Roster of Fellows for the American Occupational Therapy Association.
The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal with high international impact. The journal publishes high quality articles that focus on applied research, practice and education in the occupational therapy profession.
Read “Capstones: Voices from the Occupational Therapy Profession.”