Wendy Wachter-Schutz

I am the founding program director for doctorate in occupational therapy and associate professor at Widener University in the College of Health and Human Services. I have over twenty-five years of experience teaching in both graduate level occupational therapy and occupational therapy assisting programs. In addition, I have served in the role as academic fieldwork coordinator. Most recently I led the program in a successful initial ACOTE accreditation.

My clinical experience includes primarily acute care, outpatient services, and trauma settings where working with people recovering from traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury. My most recent clinical work has been mentoring occupational therapy students in the pro-bono, student-run interprofessional Chester Community Clinic, serving the Chester community. I have also received five grants as primary or co-investigator to support the pro bono clinic work.

I have been engaged in a home health program working exclusively with people with dementia and their caregivers. Prior to teaching I have served as a director of rehabilitation in a city-based hospital in Philadelphia. I have also been very active with professional organizations and served on the board of directors of Pennsylvania Occupational Therapy Association (POTA) and as treasurer for POTA District V. I am currently on the board of directors for the Wayne Senior Center. I serve on the faculty board for the Chester Community Clinic and numerous program, school and university committees at Widener.

My past and current teaching responsibilities include assessment and intervention for adult populations, clinical reasoning, functional neuroanatomy, evidence based practice and practice platform seminars. My doctoral work included studying how Readiness Assessment Tests (RATs) promoted student’s reading, completion of pre-class assignments and preparation for class. This included looking at motivation of the student, better preparedness and participation in class and overall better outcomes in classroom performance.

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