Duke OTD Faculty Member Celebrates PhD Achievement

Raheleh Ghasseminia, PhD, MS, OT/L, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and a member of the Duke Occupational Therapy Doctorate Program, successfully defended her dissertation and earned her PhD in Community Health Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Department of Public Health Education.

Her dissertation, “Revealing the Invisible Ruling of Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation: An Institutional Ethnography of the Situated Work of Spinal Cord Injury Practitioners and the Social Organization of Sexual Health Education,” explores the often-hidden institutional forces shaping spinal cord injury rehabilitation practices. Using institutional ethnography, Ghasseminia’s research highlights how sexual health education is socially organized within clinical settings—an area that remains underrecognized but is vital to comprehensive rehabilitation care.

Ghasseminia’s doctoral work demonstrates a strong dedication to equity-informed, patient-centered research and strengthens the connections among occupational therapy, public health, and interprofessional practice. We celebrate Ghasseminia on this important academic achievement and the valuable contributions her work offers to the field.