What is the Doctoral Capstone?
The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) establishes, approves, and administers educational standards to evaluate occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant educational programs (ACOTE®, n.d.). According to ACOTE®, the goal of the doctoral capstone is to provide an in-depth exposure to one or more of the following: clinical skills, research, administration, leadership, program development, advocacy, education, or theory development. The capstone is divided into the Capstone Project and Capstone Experience (ACOTE® standard D.1.0).
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. (n.d.). About. https://acoteonline.org/about/
Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education. (2018). 2018 Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE®) Standards and Interpretive Guide. https://acoteonline.org/accreditation-explained/standards/
Capstone Experience
The capstone experience consists of a minimum of 14 weeks for the student to start after all coursework and level II fieldwork (ACOTE® standard D.1.0). This provides experiential learning that is collaboratively developed and individualized for the student’s own learning goals and creates a meaningful integration of knowledge and scholarship into professional practice (AOTA, 2022).
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2022). Occupational therapy doctoral capstone: Purpose and value. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 76(3). https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2022.76S3004
Capstone Project
The purpose of the capstone project is to demonstrate synthesis and knowledge gained from the experience (ACOTE® standard D.1.0). Examples of capstone projects may include: a case study or series, an intervention focus, program development, teaching videos, a quality assurance project, or a research study (Struckmeyer, 2020). Jirikowic et al. (2015) identified four stages of the capstone project:
- Preparation: project proposal and faculty review
- Planning: literature review and needs assessment
- Implementation: program development, resource development, program implementation, program evaluation
- Dissemination: symposium presentation and written scholarly manuscript
Jirikowic, T., Pitonyak, J. S., Rollinger, B., Fogelberg, B., Mroz, T. M., & Powell J. M. (2015). Capstone projects as scholarship of application in entry-level occupational therapy education. Occupational Therapy in Healthcare, 29(2), 214-222. https://doi.org/10.3109/07380577.2015.1017788
Struckmeyer, L. R. (2020). Doctoral capstone site mentor training. [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@UF. https://elearning.ufl.edu/
The Site Mentor
A site mentor is an individual with expertise in the student’s area of focus and does not need to be an occupational therapist (ACOTE® standard D.1.6). Examples of responsibilities of the site mentor may include:
- Collaboration with the student and faculty mentor
- Collaborate with the student on their needs assessment, literature review, individualized objectives, and plans for supervision
- Providing signature on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), agreeing to student objectives and plans
- Onsite supervision of the student
- Assessing student performance
(Struckmeyer, 2020)
Struckmeyer, L. R. (2020). Doctoral capstone site mentor training. [PowerPoint slides]. Canvas@UF. https://elearning.ufl.edu/
Capstone Requirements
ACOTE® Standard D.1.5 (Current)
The length of the doctoral capstone experience must be a minimum of 14 weeks (560 hours). This can be completed on a part-time basis and must be consistent with the individualized specific objectives and capstone project. No more than 20% of the 560 hours can be completed offsite to ensure a concentrated experience in the designated area of interest. Prior fieldwork or work experience may not be substituted for the doctoral capstone experience
ACOTE® Standard D.1.5 (2025)
The length of the doctoral capstone experience be a minimum of 14 weeks’ full-time, and a minimum of 32 hours per week. This can be completed on a part-time basis and must be consistent with the individualized specific objectives and capstone project. The program must have a mechanism to document that the students meet the requirements for capstone length. Prior fieldwork or work experience may not be substituted for the doctoral capstone experience.
Helpful Articles
- Jirikowic, T., Pitonyak, J. S., Rollinger, B., Fogelberg, D., Mroz, T. M., & Powell, J. M. (2015). Capstone projects as scholarship of application in entry-level occupational therapy education. Occupational Therapy in Healthcare, 29(2), 214-222. https://doi.org/10.3109/07380577.2015.1017788
- Kemp, E. L., Juckett, L. A., Darragh, A. R., Weaver, L. L., Robinson, M. L., DiGiovine, C. P., & DeMott, L. (2021). Advancing the entry-level practitioner: A curricular model of the professional occupational therapy doctoral degree. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 5(3). https://doi.org/10.26681/jote.2021.050317
- Stephenson, S., Rogers, O., Ivy, C., Barron, R., & Burke, J. (2020). Designing effective capstone experiences and projects for entry-level doctoral students in occupational therapy: One program’s approaches and lessons learned. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 8(3), 1-12.
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