Amy Blue, Ph.D., the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ dean for educational affairs and UF Health’s associate vice president for interprofessional education, has been selected to serve on the board of directors of the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.
The National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy is a non-profit organization that provides certification for occupational therapy professionals. The board offers initial certification of OTs through the national certification exam, a requirement for licensure in all 50 states. The board also protects the public through continuing certification of OTs and by monitoring continued education, ethical behavior and updated performance.
The board of directors is responsible for establishing the strategic vision and management oversight for the organization. Blue joins 17 other board members, including Joanne Foss, Ph.D., O.T.R., FAOTA, a professor emerita of the UF department of occupational therapy.
“Dr. Blue’s experience in public health, medicine and OT make her an excellent addition to the board,” Foss said. “Her area of scholarship is interprofessional practice which means that she is not only familiar with, but passionate about the ‘best practices’ that benefit and protect health consumers.”
Blue, also a clinical professor in the college’s department of environmental and global health, has been engaged in health professions education for over 20 years, having implemented and directed several educational programs involving students from multiple health professions, such as medical, dental, biomedical science, pharmacy, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy and public health. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in the medical and health professions education literature and is an associate editor of the Journal of Interprofessional Care, and an associate editor for the Journal of Interprofessional Education and Practice.
Blue served as a member of the expert panel that wrote the Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Report in 2011, and completed a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examining assessment and evaluation processes in interprofessional education. In 2018, she received the Association of American Medical Colleges Southern Group of Educational Affairs’ Career Educator Award.