Six OTD Students Completed their Capstone Year

Six entry level occupational therapy doctoral students completed their capstone year with the Center of Outcomes and Measurement for the 2019-2020 academic year, under the faculty mentorship of MJ Mulcahey PhD, OTR\L, CLCP, FASIA , and Namrata Grampurohit PhD, OTR/L, and the guidance and support of research coordinators, Nicole Gerhardt MS, OTR/L, CBIS , Christina Calhoun Thielen PT, MSPT, and Erica Witoslawski. They completed the following presentations on April 20th and 21st, 2020, as a culmination of their experiences, in partial fulfillment of their doctoral degrees.

  • Bernadette Alpajora, Health Coaching in Context for Caregivers of Youth with SCI: A Feasibility Study
  • Taylor Sivori, Assessment of Fidelity to Health Coaching in Context
  • Madelyn Adams, Spine Range of Motion Measurement Training Protocol: A Reliability Study
  • Rachel Y. Kim, Spinal Cord Injury-Movement Index (SCI-MI) Fine Motor Domain: Development and Preliminary Validation
  • Samantha Burke, Benefits and Challenges with Novel Neurotechnology: Patients and Caregiver Perspectives
  • Cecilia Pivarunas, Barriers and Facilitators to Novel Neurotechnology: The Provider's Perspectives

We acknowledge the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation and Thomas Jefferson University Dean’s Translational Science Award for providing grant funding in support of these projects. We extend sincere gratitude for the students’ dedication throughout the year, and want to recognize their great contributions to our projects. We wish Bernadette, Cecilia, Madelyn, Rachel, Samantha, and Taylor the best of luck in all of their future endeavors. Congratulations!