Faculty
Heather Thomas, Ph.D., OTR/L, DipACLM
Fall 1980 - Fall 2120
Professor I
Occupational Therapy Program - CA
heatherthomas@scuhs.edu
Current Position
Biography
Dr. Heather Thomas is a professor at Southern California University in the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program. Prior to this appointment, she was the founding Program Director of an OTD program in Oregon. She has been working in occupational therapy education for over 18 years. She has presented at international, national, and state conferences, and was involved in providing OT services in Haiti after the devastating earthquake in 2010. She has served in a variety of leadership positions within the California state OT association, Los Angeles OT Leadership Forum, Los Angeles City Council, and the American Occupational Therapy Association. She currently serves as a Regional Director for the Occupational Therapy Association of Oregon and on the Board of Directors for Rebuilding Together. She is the author of the top selling activity analysis textbook “Occupation-Based Activity Analysis” which is used across the world. Her practice background includes working in acute rehabilitation and acute settings, with those who have sustained traumatic and progressive neurological disorders.
Degrees
Ph.D., Health Care Management, Touro University International, Cypress, California, United StatesDissertation: The Influence of Personal and Physical Contexts on Occupational Therapists’ Intervention Choices for Addressing Contractures
Professional Licensures (Healthcare)
OT, California, United States, 3610, Active, 2004, November 2024
OT, Oregon, United States, 1029258, Active, 2021, May 2023
Work Experience
2020 - 2022
Program Director, Western University of Health Sciences, Lebanon, Oregon, United States
2020 - 2020
Professor, University of St. Augustine, San Marcos, California, United States
2017 - 2020
Professor & Curriculum Coordinator, West Coast University, Los Angeles, California, United States
2016 - 2017
Program Director, American Career College, Anaheim, California, United States
2013 - 2016
Associate Professor/Curriculum Development Coordinator, West Coast University, Los Angeles, California, United States
2009 - 2020
Occupational Therapist, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation, Pomona, California, United States
2007 - 2008
Director of Occupational Therapy, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation, Pomona, California, United States
2004 - 2013
Assistant & Associate Professor, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, United States
2000 - 2001
Program Director, Assistive Technology Center, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation, Pomona, California, United States
1998 - 2000
Occupational Therapist, Casa Colina Centers for Rehabilitation, Pomona, California, United States
Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions
Book
Completed/Published
Chapter
Completed/Published
Journal Article
Completed/Published
Poster Presentation
Completed/Published
Presentation
Completed/Published
Grants
Completed
AAA Carfit Grant, Funded by AAA (January 2, 2018) ($500.00), Completed, Fall 2016, PI Heather Thomas
California Foundation of Occupational Therapy Research Award, Funded by California Foundation of Occupational Therapy (October 4, 2022) ($500.00), Completed, Fall 2010, PI Heather Thomas
Withdrawn
Establishment of Protocols for Incorporation of Lifestyle Medicine into Occupational Therapy Fieldwork and Capstone Projects, Funded by Ardmore Institute (October 11, 2022) ($99,839.00), Withdrawn, Fall 2022, PI Heather Thomas
Honors and Awards
Fall 2022 - Ongoing
Teacher of the Year, 2018, West Coast University
AOTA Service Commendation, 2017, American Occupational Therapy Association
Award of Excellence, 2016, Occupational Therapy Association of California
Outstanding Service Award, 2015, West Coast University
Professional Membership
Fall 2021 - Ongoing
Occupational Therapy Association of Oregon, September 2021
Summer 1996 - Ongoing
American Occupational Therapy Association, December 1996
Fall 1998 - Fall 2020
Occupational Therapy Association of California , October 1998, October 2020
Fall 2007 - Ongoing
World Federation of Occupational Therapists, February 2007
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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