Bricker, Jessie, OTD, OTR/L

Clinical Interests

Dr. Bricker’s clinical interests include pediatric, adolescent and young adult populations with neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders. She has extensive previous experience with program development and consultation in private and public school settings, as well as outpatient clinical environments, with an emphasis in client-centered, occupation-based, contextually relevant program design.

Research Interests

Dr. Bricker’s research interests generally focus on aspects of becoming as part of the human experience. Her current research interests focus on the transition to adulthood for individuals on the autism spectrum and best practices in facilitating the development of professional self-concept in occupational therapy students.

Teaching Roles

Dr. Bricker’s teaching role focuses on occupational therapy students’ professional development, including instructing and overseeing fieldwork-related coursework fieldwork experiences, and the doctoral experiential component. Specifically, she teaches 6570 Preparation for Level II Fieldwork and Entry-Level Practice and 6590 Special Elective Children and Youth with High Intensity Needs in School Settings. In the MSOT program, Dr. Bricker oversees 6610 Level IIA Fieldwork and 6620 Level IIB Fieldwork. In the OTD program, Dr. Bricker teaches the 6910 Doctoral Capstone Proposal and the 6920 Capstone Project courses and oversees 6610 Level IIA Fieldwork, 6620 Level IIB Fieldwork and 6930 Capstone Experience.

Education

2018: Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD), Eastern Kentucky University
2001: MS in occupational therapy, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Program in Occupational Therapy
2000: BA in psychology, Illinois Wesleyan University

Background

After earning her master’s degree in occupational therapy from the Program in Occupational Therapy at Washington University in St. Louis in 2001, Dr. Bricker worked as a pediatric occupational therapist for 14 years in numerous settings including inpatient, outpatient, school-based, community-based and home health. Her experiences include diagnostic work for multi-disciplinary clinics including feeding aversion, spina bifida, autism diagnostic clinics and Children’s Miracle Network Clinics. She led her own pediatric therapy practice, and held consultative and program development roles in multiple settings. For four years, Dr. Bricker was the director of rehabilitation for an outpatient behavioral and rehabilitative services agency that serves children with autism. After relocating to Northeast Arkansas in 2015, she served as a founding faculty member for the Arkansas State University Occupational Therapy Department, first as academic fieldwork coordinator and later as director of the occupational therapy assistant program. Dr. Bricker taught course content for the occupational therapy assistant and doctoral programs related to pediatric and adolescent practice, mental health and professionalism. In 2018, Dr. Bricker joined the faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, serving as the academic fieldwork and capstone coordinator for the Program in Occupational Therapy.

Dr. Bricker is the principal investigator and project director of the School-Based Scholars Program, a scholarship program designed to recruit and train OTD graduates to practice in school-based settings and work with children and youth with high support needs. Learn more.

Awards and Honors

2023: Inducted into Academy of Educators, Washington University School of Medicine
2023: Distinguished Post Professional OTD Alumni Award, Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
2023: Dean’s Impact Award, Washington University School of Medicine
2020: Outstanding Educator Award, Missouri Occupational Therapy Association