UC’s Inaugural Occupational Therapy Cohort Achieves 100% Pass Rate on National Certification Examination

When Jordan King woke up before dawn to wait for her National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) Certification Examination results, she wasn't alone.

She and her classmates knew their scores would arrive sometime between 4 and 6 a.m. Instead, they waited anxiously until nearly 7 a.m., texting one another and refreshing their inboxes as they counted down the minutes.

"We kept asking each other if anyone had gotten anything yet," King said. "As soon as we got it, it was surreal. We were all up waiting and super anxious. When the results finally came through, it was just really exciting."

King is one of four graduates in the University of Charleston's inaugural Master of Science in Occupational Therapy cohort, which started in 2024. Along with King, Kristen Bettermann, Cara Gartin, and McKalah Helton all passed the NBCOT Certification Examination on their first attempt, an impressive accomplishment for one of the school's newest graduate programs.

For King, a Charleston native and Capital High School graduate, the accomplishment means much more than earning a professional credential. It reflects two years of learning in a program built around small class sizes, personalized faculty mentorship, innovative technology, and extensive clinical experiences.

"They did a really good job finding the right professors and building the program," King said. "It's absolutely amazing how fast they built a master's program, earned accreditation, and prepared us to succeed for the future and this exam."

Throughout the two-year program, students completed clinical experiences across a variety of practice settings. King's fieldwork included placements at Dynamic Physical Therapy, in Kanawha County Schools, and through West Virginia's Birth to Three program, giving her experience working with patients of all ages in a variety of settings.

"I had really good clinical experiences all the way through," King said. "I saw so many different diagnoses and worked with occupational therapists, assistants, physical therapists, teachers, principals, parents, and so many different members of the healthcare and education teams."

Much of the program's hands-on instruction takes place inside the Morrison Rehabilitation Science & Athletic Center, where occupational therapy students learn alongside future physician assistants, nurses, and physical therapists in a collaborative healthcare environment.

Students also strengthen their clinical reasoning through innovative learning tools such as Virtual Medicine, an immersive virtual reality simulation platform, and the Anatomage Table, an advanced 3D anatomy system.

"This milestone reflects the extraordinary dedication of our inaugural cohort and the trust they placed in a new program," Dr. Nicole Scheiman, MSOT Program Director, said. "Jordan, Kristen, Cara, and McKalah embraced every challenge, supported one another, and demonstrated the knowledge, clinical reasoning, and professionalism needed to succeed. Their 100% first-time pass rate is also a testament to the commitment of our faculty, fieldwork educators, community partners, and University leadership. We are incredibly proud of these graduates and confident they will make a meaningful impact on the individuals and communities they serve. I see great things happening in their futures."

"We wanted to pass not only for ourselves, but for the faculty, staff, and everyone at UC who believed in this program. We wanted them to know that we cared and that we wanted to do well to show how well they did with us," King said.

As King begins the search for her first occupational therapy position, she hopes to work in pediatrics.

Wherever her career takes her next, she and her classmates will always be remembered as the first graduates of UC's Master of Science in Occupational Therapy program, a class that established a standard of excellence from day one.