Faculty
Douglene Jackson, PhD, OTR/L, LMT, ATP, CYT, FAOTA
Fall 1980 - Fall 2120
Professor I
Occupational Therapy Program - AZ
DougleneJackson@scuhs.edu
Current Position
Biography
Douglene Jackson, PhD, OTR/L, LMT, ATP, CYT, FAOTA is an occupational therapist (OT) with over 25 years of experience in the rehabilitation field, primarily with individuals with neurodevelopmental disabilities across the lifespan in schools, hospitals, clinics, and community-based settings. She holds a PhD in Special Education in Early Childhood, a Master’s degree in Occupational Therapy, a Bachelor’s degree in Rehabilitation Services with a concentration in counseling, a Diploma in Massage Therapy, and various professional certifications, including assistive technology, telehealth, and sensory integration, yoga, qigong, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Jackson received the American Occupational Therapy Association 2022 Award of Merit and was simultaneously recognized to the Roster of Fellows.
Dr. Jackson is the Doctoral Capstone Coordinator for the Occupational Therapy Arizona program, joining SCUHS in October 2023. She is an experienced educator and researcher, with experience teaching pediatrics, assistive technology, research, and cultural awareness courses interprofessionally. Dr. Jackson has also written grants and awarded funding, with her research interests including health and educational disparities, early childhood, telehealth, and assistive technology. She has served in leadership roles with the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), American Occupational Therapy Foundation (AOTF), Florida Occupational Therapy Association, South Florida Black Occupational Therapy Caucus, and Autism Society, as well as volunteered with other boards and community organizations. Currently, she is the AOTA Alternate Delegate to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists and the secretary of the AOTF.
Social Media: @drdouglene
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdouglene
Degrees
Ph.D., Special Education in Early Childhood, Walden UniversityDissertation: A Mixed Method Study of Diagnostic and Adaptive Functioning Challenges in African American Preschool-Aged Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders
OT, Occupational Therapy, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, United States
B.H.S., Rehabilitation Services, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States
Certifications (Healthcare)
National Certification Board of Occupational Therapy, Registered Occupational Therapist, Pediatrics, 1059566, 2002-03-29, 2025-03-31
Rehabilitation Engineering Society of North America, Assistive Technology Professional, 88319, 2017-05-04, 2025-05-05
Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions
Chapter
Completed/Published
Journal Article
Completed/Published
Poster Presentation
Completed/Published
Presentation
Completed/Published
Honors and Awards
Spring 2022 - Ongoing
Roster of Fellows, 2022, American Occupational Therapy Association, The Roster of Fellows recognizes occupational therapists who through their knowledge, expertise, leadership, advocacy, and/or guidance have made a significant contribution over time to the profession with a measured impact on consumers of occupational therapy services and/or members of the Association.
Award of Merit, 2022, American Occupational Therapy Association, This is the highest Association honor recognizing an occupational therapist (OT) who has demonstrated extensive leadership through sustained and significant contributions to the profession.
Fall 2022 - Ongoing
Louise Samson Leadership Award, 2022, Florida Occupational Therapy Association, This award is the highest honor FOTA can bestow on an occupational therapist in Florida, acknowledging a practitioner who has developed his/her leadership capacity to serve the profession, FOTA, or the community; and whose leadership skills have contributed to supporting FOTA’s mission.
Fall 2020 - Fall 2020
Racial Equity Fund Award, 2020, The Miami Foundation, -Recognized inidividuals who contribute to building communities and advancing racial equity
Professional Membership
Fall 1999 - Ongoing
American Occupational Therapy Association, June 1999
Fall 2015 - Ongoing
World Federation of Occupational Therapists, October 2015
Fall 2013 - Ongoing
Florida Occupational Therapy Association, September 2013
Hear from the Students Who’ve Been in Your Shoes
I chose SCU when looking for a PA program because of their Integrative Medicine approach. I am from Michigan, and not many programs focus on this Integrative, Holistic approach when it comes to patient care in the Midwest, and I felt that was very important for me to learn as a future provider. My transition to semi-virtual learning has been very smooth and quite enjoyable. [su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part about attending SCU is how tight-knit and diverse the community is. Coming from a large undergrad university and moving so far, it was very important for me to have a PA program that made me feel valued and invested in my success. At SCU, they do a great job of making you feel that.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Brianna Hadley
MSPA Class of 2022
One of the great things about SCU is we do have a campus layout, so all your classes aren't in a single room. We have our cadaver lab. We have different specialty rooms for physical assessment classes vs. acupuncture classes. All our acupuncture-specific classes have all the herbs in the room. You can pull out the herbs and look at them, whether in class or in between classes to get that extra studying in.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]My favorite part of SCU is the collaboration from our beginning terms. We were working alongside chiropractor students, PA students, and ayurvedic students. It's a unique community where we get to learn about these different fields and sit in classrooms with them and work with them in the clinic. It allows you to get an understanding of all the different fields and how they can work together, and what is unique about your field. I think that is a wonderful aspect that I didn't think was going to be as prominent as it is here; even now, in my upper term classes and I am not in class with chiropractic students, I can still reach out to them about a certain aspect I may not understand or if I am working on a case. I want another perspective I know I have them to reach out to, so that has been a great networking community to have resources for.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Dr. Jamie Kuljis
Graduate, Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine
"There are a lot of things that I love about the program at SCU. The first one is that the faculty come from a long line of Ayurvedic knowledge deeply rooted in ancient classical text. They studied Ayurveda, but they also lived it. When you learn from people who embody this wisdom, it's much easier to grasp this knowledge. The second thing I love is the camaraderie within the cohort. The combination of the training, supportive faculty, and the support of my peers and classmates has given me the confidence I need to start my own practice."
Portia Harris
Student, Ayurveda Program
Some of my favorite courses at SCU have to be the chiropractic procedure classes; those are the classes you get to hone in on your chiro skills, your palpation skills and ultimately work on the adjustments that make you a chiropractor. Those are the classes I feel enhance my knowledge the most and are some of the reasons I chose to become a chiropractor here are SCU.[su_accordion][su_spoiler title="Read More..." open="No"]On top of chiropractic procedures classes, my favorite is the cadaver lab experience. The cadaver classes opened up my perception of what the human body is made up of. It allowed me to get an in-person perspective of how the body works and looks on the inside. I am genuinely thankful for those experiences because they opened and broadened my horizons to the human body and anatomy in general.[/su_spoiler][/su_accordion]
Jordan Vega
Student, Doctor of Chiropractic
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