Both clinical and Ph.D. graduate students in occupational therapy will be learning about evidence-based research and research-based writing while in our degree programs. Any time an assignment calls for research, reach out! I am happy to help with questions big and small as you look for what you need for your assignment.
Throughout the OTD program, I will be dropping into your classes to help you learn about finding resources, evaluating and analyzing resources, and evaluating publications. The culmination of this work is your Capstone project, usually started at the beginning of your third year.
As soon as you narrow down your topic for your Capstone project, reach out to schedule a consultation with me. The deadlines for this class are quick, and the more time you have to evaluate what you're finding in our databases, the better.
This consultation often lasts for only an hour, at the end of which you'll have:
If your topic shifts after our consultation, that's OK! We can always meet again and tweak our strategy together.
As you approach the completion of your coursework, you'll be required to submit an annotated bibliography when you request to sit for your qualifying exam. I am happy to work with you to discuss your topic, refine your research question, and to create a search strategy to find appropriate resources for your bibliography. This is often a pre-cursor to your dissertation's literature review, below, and the search strategy we create for the annotated bibliography can be expanded when preparing your search strategy for the lit review for your dissertation.
Some Ph.D. students choose to work on a scholarly review in order to practice research methods and scholarly writing. Remember that a scoping review takes time (at least a year) and a team of at least two people, with at least three being preferred. A literature review has fewer rules, but may be more difficult to publish.
Check out my page on systematic and other reviews to distinguish between the types of scholarly reviews and to determine what is most appropriate for your needs. Whatever type of review you may choose to complete, I am happy to help you throughout the process, whether that's meeting weekly to keep you on target for an individual literature review, or to manage the process for a more complicated scoping review that's being done with peers and possibly a faculty member.
Many Ph.D. students choose this elective course to refine their academic writing. One of the requirements is to submit a piece to a journal or publication. I can work with you to determine a plan for your submission, finding publications that best suit both your topic and your role as an emerging scholar.
Of course, your dissertation is the pinnacle of your scholarly work at TWU. This usually includes a literature review to help demonstrate the need for your original research. We can work together to build a search strategy to gather the best resources for your lit review and dissertation.
