Dr. Tamara Wyrick
Dr. Tamara Mills Wyrick is a Clinical Professor of Occupational Therapy and serves as the Doctoral Capstone Coordinator in the OTD Program in the College of Health Professions at Mercer University. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Master of Science in Health and Rehabilitation Science with a concentration in occupational therapy from the University of Pittsburgh, and her Bachelor of Science in Occupational Therapy from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She also earned a graduate certificate in Assistive and Rehabilitation Technology from the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as the Doctoral Capstone Coordinator for the entry-level doctorate program in occupational therapy.
Since 2004, Dr. Wyrick has held a specialty certification as an Assistive Technology Professional (ATP) from the Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology Society of North America (RESNA). Her areas of expertise in assistive technology are wheelchair seating and mobility, computer access, and home accessibility and modifications. She has 26 years of clinical experience in occupational therapy, primarily in acute care, home health, and private practice. She has also held clinical administrative roles as an inpatient rehabilitation team supervisor and a home health rehabilitation director.
Dr. Wyrick has been teaching in the field of occupational therapy for 14 years and was a former OT department site coordinator before joining Mercer University. Her teaching responsibilities include anatomy, kinesiology, evidence-based practice, outcomes measurement, and quantitative and qualitative research methods. She has conducted research on improving function in individuals with neurologic injuries using biomechanical interventions to improve upper extremity function, virtual rehabilitation, and performance-based assessment of function in home settings. Dr. Wyrick has numerous publications and has given many state and national presentations.
Dr. Wyrick is actively engaged in serving the OT and rehabilitation community with roles in both state and national organizations. She has served since 2019 as the committee chair for the Continuing Education Approval committee for the Georgia Occupational Therapy Association, and she has been an accreditation evaluator for 12 years for the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE). Currently, Dr. Wyrick is a journal reviewer for the Journal of Occupational Therapy Education and the Open Journal of Occupational Therapy. She also serves as an advisory committee member for the University of Pittsburgh, Department of Occupational Therapy and the University of Georgia, Institute on Human Development & Disability.