We are delighted to announce that Sarah Jean Barton, ThD, MS, OTR/L, BCP, has been appointed Duke’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate (OTD) program director. She will assume program director duties that have been part of the division chief and program director position Barbara Hooper, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, has held since the program was founded in 2019. Dr. Hooper will retain the role of division chief where she will continue to oversee all programmatic outcomes and develop new initiatives in occupational therapy education at Duke and nationally.
Reflecting on the change, Dr. Hooper believes “this move will expand the program’s leadership, allowing for the growth of strategic initiatives, curricular innovation, and partnerships that will enhance the program and grow Duke OTD’s impact nationally. Dr. Barton is a passionate and skilled educator, mentor, and leader and I am thrilled to partner with her in taking the program to the next level of excellence.”
Dr. Barton holds a dual appointment in the Occupational Therapy Doctorate Division and the Divinity School at Duke University. Dr. Barton earned a B.S. in Biology from Seattle Pacific University, an M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Boston University, an MTS (Master of Theological Studies), and a ThD (Doctor of Theology) from Duke Divinity School. Her research focuses on the intersections of disability with theology, health, education, and religious participation.
Her research methodology prioritizes partnerships with individuals experiencing intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has completed recent work on Universal Design for Learning and accessible pedagogy. She has published and presented in various interdisciplinary settings on issues related to Christian theology and ethics, intellectual disability, spirituality, disability studies, and occupational therapy. In addition to her academic appointment, Dr. Barton works at Duke Health as a senior occupational therapist with a board certification in pediatrics.
She was also on the committee that hired Dr. Hooper as the founding program director and division chief, so you could say she’s been on the program’s ground floor in more ways than one.
Enjoy a Q&A with Dr. Barton
Q: What are some of your primary duties in the new role?
A: The program director’s role concerns leadership and coordination of all the educational activities across the division. I will take the lead on our accreditations, semester schedule, and how the curriculum is being implemented—all while collaborating closely with students, faculty, and staff. I’ll also be starting some new initiatives that we’ve been planning but haven’t been formally launched, including what I hope will be a robust teacher-to-teacher mentoring and peer support program to assist in faculty development.
Dr. Hooper and I have co-chaired the curriculum committee, and we will continue to do that. However, we’ll widen and deepen the committee's role and ensure that we maintain good fidelity with our innovative curriculum design while focusing on program evaluation.
Q: What has been the most rewarding aspect of your work in the program up to this point?
A: I was very satisfied to see our first cohort progress through the program and graduate this past May. It’s satisfying to see the connections students make to the curriculum. I taught them in their first semester, and several times after, so I got to see their growth and hear their reflections on how much they appreciated the occupation-centric nature of the program, our approach to accessible and inclusive education, and how we support their professional development. Seeing them out in the world now is very satisfying.
Q: What are you looking forward to the most about taking on the new role?
A: The increased opportunity for partnerships at so many different levels excites me. My academic work is often about access and wanting to promote ways for more people to participate robustly in anything from coursework to occupations to their communities.
I’m excited about collaborating with students to continue to improve the curriculum and increase our understanding of the division’s mission and goal and how that’s embedded in the curriculum.
I’m also looking forward to being an ambassador for our program's fantastic work. I plan to grow our collaborations with occupational therapists at Duke and in the community to incorporate their expertise into our curriculum, build more partnerships, and advance OT education.
Q: What are the most significant impacts students can expect to see as part of this change?
A: Building on the firm foundation that has already been established is the next step in the program's growth and evolution. We want to hone in on what has been working well and focus on nourishing that. We have a collaborative culture, and students will have another person, in addition to Dr. Hooper, to collaborate with on different initiatives. Two people are better than one.
I hope they’ll see the program strengthened in a way that supports them as students and stays true to our commitment as a faculty and staff to deliver an occupation-centered curriculum.