Monica S. Clark, OTD, OTR

Assistant Professor

Education

Dr. Monica S. Clark is an Assistant Professor and the Clinic Coordinator for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a double minor in biology and art from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Belton, TX in 2004. Two years later, she earned her master’s in occupational therapy from Texas Woman’s University in Dallas, TX. After eight years of clinical experience, she went back to Texas Woman’s University for the inaugural class of their Doctor in Occupational Therapy program. She earned this degree in 2016 with a focus in Stroke Rehabilitation.

In the past few years, she completed her certification for Trauma-Informed Educator (TIE), became a Certified Neuro Specialist (CNS), and completed a certification on Fostering a Culture of Belonging from the Association of College and University Educators.

Clinical Experience

With 20 years of clinical experience, Dr. Clark has worked in a variety of areas: acute care, inpatient and outpatient mental health, outpatient adults and pediatrics, skilled nursing, home health, and inpatient rehab. However, her niche is working with the acute neurology population. Early in her career, she worked as a travel therapist. This made her flexible and knowledgeable about a variety of payment systems, the effect of regional culture on therapy goals, and alternative methods of treatment.

Additionally, she started numerous occupation-based and psychosocial programs at a local hospital, including vision, cardiac, oncology, pain management, and antepartum programs. She opened an inpatient rehab during the midst of the COVID pandemic, which was ranked in the top 10% of the U.S. for quality within 3 months. It is currently one of the top rehabilitation centers in San Antonio.

Teaching Experience

Demonstrating her commitment to the professional development of others, Dr. Clark has supervised more than 20 fieldwork students in the clinical setting, including doctoral capstone students. She started a mentorship program for new graduates and continues to mentor past students and team members. She has also developed numerous on-site clinical fieldwork programs to ensure flexibility based on adult learning theory.

She has taught a multitude of classes over the past 10 years, including professional communication, theory development, ethics and occupational justice, innovation (technology), functional anatomy, neuroanatomy and physiology, adult service delivery, mental health, OT process, competency, and scholarly inquiry. In 2016, Dr. Clark was nominated by past students and awarded the Clinical Educator of the Year Award from the Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA) for her enthusiasm for growing and mentoring students. In 2024, she was nominated for the Academic Educator of the Year Award, also from TOTA.

Additionally, she has presented at numerous conferences on leadership and management techniques as well as occupation-based program development and using music in practice. She is one of the founding faculty and helped build the OTD program's curriculum and design.

Grants and Research

Using Narratives in OT Treatment, the title of her master’s thesis, was her first endeavor into scholarly inquiry. Using music with the stroke population, creation of occupation-based programs in the acute setting and increasing the visibility of occupational therapy are several of Dr. Clark’s other research interests. She is in the process of publishing an article about creating an occupation-based Antepartum program based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act model as well as the development of a therapy protocol for Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), which was crucial to the survival of numerous COVID+ clients.

Dr. Clark is a co-investigator for a $5.2 million grant awarded from the Department of Education to bring more mental health professionals into area school systems (Mental Health Service Providers Demonstration). The grant provides scholarships for UIW OTD students, the creation of trauma-informed training, and a pathway program for high school students to successfully enter the profession.

Community Involvement

Currently, Dr. Clark is the Mentorship Program Chair for TOTA, where she serves the occupational therapy community in Texas through the mentorship. The program is still in the early stages, with plans to become a permanent benefit to TOTA members in the future.

In the past few years, she has served on multiple rehab panels as the occupational therapy member in helping clients, caregivers, and students understand their rights in the therapy process. In the summer of 2025, she co-created and now co-hosts an international journal club, Neuroalk, where professionals from all over the world discuss current discoveries in neuroscience and psychology. Finally, she founded the Occupational Therapy Benevolence Endowment, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping OT practitioners and students after a significant life event.