Commitment to Clinical Excellence and Education

We are an approved AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) fellowship program in neurologic rehabilitation. We offer a 52-week program which includes a wide range of clinical and didactic experiences across the lifespan and the continuum of care. This collaborative program provides licensed occupational therapists the ability to enhance their skills while working with experienced clinicians in the area of neurologic occupational therapy and academicians of two major educational institutions.

Our Mission

The mission of the TIRR Memorial Hermann Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program is to provide evidence-based, post-professional education and mentorship in the area of neurologic occupational therapy throughout the continuum of care in order to develop clinical specialists who can provide high quality, client-centered services through cutting edge interventions, compassion, and interdisciplinary collaboration to achieve the best outcomes for those we serve by helping them resume and redefine their roles and participation in daily living activities.

Fellowship Testimonial

The TIRR Memorial Hermann Occupational Therapy Fellowship Program provides evidence-based, post-professional education and mentorship in the area of neurologic occupational therapy throughout the continuum of care.

Professional Growth and Development

As one of the nation's leading health care systems, the TIRR Memorial Hermann Neurologic OT Fellowship Program offers the fellows experience across the entire continuum of care and patient lifespan in the practice of neurologic occupational therapy. This wide exposure allows the fellows to enhance their clinical decision-making skills and develop their confidence as clinical specialists. The program also offers learning modules provided by interdisciplinary instructors experienced in the curriculum content and clinical expertise. The instructors create enriched learning experiences for enhanced knowledge acquisition and clinical application.

Fellows will rotate through the various settings within the Memorial Hermann Hospital System, including:

  • Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center
    • Neuro-Trauma Intensive Care Unit
    • Acute Care Neuro Unit
    • Stroke Unit
  • Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital-Texas Medical Center
    • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
    • Inpatient/outpatient pediatrics
  • TIRR Memorial Hermann
    • Inpatient Brain Injury and Stroke Programs
    • Inpatient Spinal Cord Injury and Amputee Programs
    • Inpatient Specialty Rehabilitation
  • TIRR Memorial Hermann Adult and Pediatrics Outpatient Rehabilitation
    • Outpatient rehabilitation
    • Challenge Program - a specialized community re-entry program for persons with cognitive disabilities after brain injury

Fellows will have the opportunity to enhance their clinical skills in the treatment of patients with:

  • Stroke
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Limb loss
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Pediatric conditions

Throughout the clinical rotations, the fellows will interact and collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team (i.e., physicians, case managers, physical therapists, speech language pathologists, nurses, social workers, neuropsychologists).

Enriched Didactic Experiences

Didactic curriculum is offered through university-mediated courses and module instruction to provide the fellow with a comprehensive educational experience.

University Mediated Didactic Curriculum

The university mediated didactic experiences will be offered through online and onsite formats at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston and Texas Women's University in Houston. These courses scheduled on an academic calendar, concurrent with the clinical experiences. The fellow will be enrolled in two to three independent study courses per fellowship year. It will progress from the foundational and clinical sciences to critical inquiry and evidence-based practice and culminates in the completion of a research project.

Module Series Curriculum

Learning modules will provide the fellow with focused learning experiences in a variety of formats- lecture, lab, and mentored discussions. The interdisciplinary module instructors serve as clinical specialists in the curriculum content and in patient-management. The goal of the module series is to provide a mechanism for knowledge acquisition and clinical application.

The majority of module educational content will take place over 7 weekends between July-February. Each weekend will be 1-2 days long depending on content with resulting flexed time during the week.

Module weekend curriculum includes:

  • Translating the Science to Practice: Neuroplasticity and Motor Learning in Neurological Rehabilitation
  • Pediatric Rehabilitation for the Neurologic Therapist
  • Advancing Clinical Practice in Brain Injury and Stroke Rehabilitation
  • Advancing Clinical Practice in Neurodegenerative Disease Rehabilitation
  • Advancing Clinical Practice in Spinal Cord Injury
  • Advancing Clinical Practice in Seating and Mobility
  • Advancing Clinical Practice Techniques for People with Limb Loss

In addition to the weekend modules, the fellow will participate in afternoon educational curriculum that includes:

  • Neuropharmacology
  • Neuropsychology
  • Neuroimaging
  • Wheelchair Seating and Positioning
  • Health Promotion
  • Ethics
  • Health Care Administration
  • Integumentary Repair and Protection
  • Serial Casting
  • Electrical Stimulation
  • Clinical Education
  • And many more

Dedicated Faculty and Mentors

While on each rotation, the fellow will be provided with 1:1 mentorship in order to advance his/her clinical skills and patient management. This mentorship will be provided by clinical faculty who are clinical specialists in their area of practice.

The fellow will maintain a schedule of 40 hours per week with 30 of those hours as direct patient care and 10+ hours dedicated education time. The fellow will receive a minimum of 3-hours of 1:1 faculty mentorship per week. Mentorship occurs during patient treatment sessions and during non-treatment time to allow for practice of new psychomotor skills and/or the discussion of theory, scientific evidence and the clinical application thereof.

Challenging and Rewarding Training Environment

Our fellowship program strives for excellence in the areas of clinical practice, education and inquiry. In these areas, we seek to provide the fellows with experiences that are challenging, yet rewarding, in order to enhance their professional growth and development. 

Application Information

Application deadline and interview information:

The application can be found here. The application and application fee should be received by January 15th for consideration..

Interviews will be scheduled in the first week of March with the top applicants following application review by the Fellowship Advisory Council.

Didactic training begins end of June. Clinical training begins the first week of July. Specific start dates will be communicated to the fellow in the acceptance letter.

Supplemental materials required include:

  • Reference letters
    • Three professional reference letters to be included with your application
      • New graduates must submit at least one letter of recommendation from a previous clinical instructor
  • Description of Clinical Practice and Clinical Internships
    • Make sure to include the following information:
      • OT clinical experiences/internships
      • Professional employment history
      • Professional Memberships (e.g. AOTA membership)
      • Professional licenses and CEUs
      • Certification, Credentials, Residencies and Fellowships
      • Research, awards, teaching and volunteer history
  • Application fee
    • Application fee: $50.00
    • Payment is due when you apply online

TIRR Memorial Hermann HR application

To access the application, visit Memorial Hermann's career opportunities.

  • Click on Search Jobs. This will take you to a new page.
  • Under the category Location, click on The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research.
  • Under Category, click on Therapy.
  • Under Therapy Job Openings in Houston, click on OT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM. This will take you to the next page.
  • Click on Apply Now. This will take you to a new page.
  • Create an account or sign in.

Minimum eligibility requirements

Minimum eligibility requirements for acceptance to TIRR Memorial Hermann Neurologic OT Fellowship Program:

  • Be eligible for or hold a valid Texas Occupational Therapy license
  • Eligibility requirements for new graduates:
    • You must have taken the NBCOT Exam before the start of the program.
    • You must show proof of certificate of completion from the Occupational Therapy Program Chair if your graduation date is past the start date of the Fellowship Program.
    • You must show proof of a temporary Occupational Therapy license in Texas by the start date of the clinical training.
  • Please visit the Texas Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners website to review the licensing requirements.
  • AOTA and/or TOTA membership is preferred.

For More Information

Kathryn Nedley, OTR, OTD, ATP
OT Fellowship Director

TIRR Memorial Hermann Neurologic OT Fellowship Program
1333 Moursund St.
Houston, Texas 77030
NeuroOT@memorialhermann.org

Residency, Internship & Observation