Faculty
Rene' Wren, EdD, OTD, OTR, BCG
Fall 1980 - Fall 2120
Associate Professor I
Occupational Therapy Program - AZ
ReneWren@scuhs.edu
Current Position
Biography
Dr. Rene' Wren joined the Southern California University of Health Sciences faculty team as curriculum coordinator and core faculty in the Occupational Therapy program - Arizona campus in October 2023. Prior to joining the university, she was a faculty member at University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences instructiing capstone, geriatric, foundational, and clinical lab courses. She has also taught at Texas Women's University and University of Texas. Additionally, Dr. Wren has worked as a consultant for University of Texas at Tyler to assist in the development of the MOT bridge program and Brightwood College in Dallas with the initial ACOTE accreditation of the OTA program.
Prior to entering the field of academia in 2015, Dr. Wren worked as an occupational therapist primarily in the skilled nursing facility and home health settings as a clinician for 23 years. She is American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) Board Certified in Gerontology and has worked extensively with the older adult population. She is a certified LSVT-BIG clinician working with patients with Parkinson's disease and other neurological conditions that affect movement and function. Dr. Wren has been an active member in the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA).
Dr. Wren's education includes:
Doctor of Education (EdD), University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, St. Augustine, Florida.
Doctorate of Occupational Therapy (OTD), Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Bachelor of Science, (BS), Occupational Therapy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, School of Allied Health Professions, Shreveport, Louisiana.
Dr. Wren's primary research interest is in the area of life review psychosocial interventions. This line of research has included investigating the underlying principles of life review interventions regarding design and how implementation of life review interventions affect issues such as student ageism and older adults daily occupations.
Degrees
Ed.D., Education, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, St. Augustine, Florida, United StatesDissertation: Exploring Student Ageism Perceptions Using Life Review: A Mixed-Methods Study
O.T.D., Occupational Therapy, Chatham University, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, United StatesDissertation: LIFE REVIEW EFFECTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE FOR NURSING HOME RESIDENTS.
B.A.S., Occupational Therapy, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana, United StatesDissertation: N/A
Professional Licensures (Healthcare)
Occupational Therapy, Texas, United States, 112143, Active, 2003, August 2025, 1912271065
Certifications (Healthcare)
American Occupational Therapy Association, Board Certification in Gerontology, Geriatrics, 100100067, 2017, 2025
National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy, Occupational Therapist Registered OTR, Occupational Therapy, 1067537, 09252003, 03312026
Work Experience
2023 - Ongoing
Curriculum Coordinator, Professor, Southern California University of Health Sciences, Whittier, California, United States
2022 - 2023
Curriculum developer, adjunct professor, West Coast University, Irving, Texas, United States
2021 - 2022
Adjunct Professor, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United States
2019 - Ongoing
Core Faculty and Adjunct Faculty, University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences, Saint Augustine, Florida, United States
2018 - 2018
Consultant, Brightwood College, Dallas, Texas, United States
2017 - 2018
Consultant, Adjunct, University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, Texas, United States
2015 - 2017
Professor, Texas Womens University, Dallas, Texas, United States
2014 - 2015
Occupational Therapist, Rehab Pro, Celina, Texas, United States
2013 - 2014
Occupational Therapist, Lifecare Hospital of Plano, Plano, Texas, United States
2012 - 2013
Rehabilitation director, OT, Therapy Management Corporation, Tyler, Texas, United States
2011 - 2012
Occupational Therapist, Encompass Home Health, Tyler, Texas, United States
Occupational Therapist, Logix Therapy Staffing Solutions, Lindale, Texas, United States
2009 - 2011
Occupational Therapist, Texas Home Health , Tyler, Texas, United States
Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions
Journal Article
Completed/Published
Presentation
Completed/Published
Professional Membership
Fall 2023 - Ongoing
American Occupational Therapy Association , May 2003, Ongoing, National Association for Occupational Therapy
Texas Occupational Therapy Association, March 2008, Ongoing, Local, Regional, and State Texas OT associations
Fall 2024 - Ongoing
Arizona Occupational Therapy Association, September 2024, Arizona OT Association membership
Interests
Geriatrics, Foundations, Wellness, Capstone, Research, Life Review, Ageism, Older Adult Falls, LSVT-Big, Parkinson's groups, Older adults
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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