Throughout her career, Dr. Julie Kardachi has worked primarily with adults with neurological and orthopedic conditions.

Dr. Julie Kardachi, who has decades of experience in a variety of clinical practice areas in occupational therapy, has been named director of the Occupational Therapy Doctorate program at Yeshiva University’s Katz School of Science and Health. “Dr. Kardachi’s first-rate clinical skills and her exceptional ability to relate to and work with clients and students makes her the perfect choice for leading our entry-level doctorate program,” said Dr. Paul Russo, dean of the Katz School and vice provost at Yeshiva. “She understands that putting her clients at the center of their own rehabilitation can be the difference between living and having a life.” Before joining the Katz School, Dr. Kardachi was the academic coordinator for the occupational therapy program at Touro College in Manhattan where she developed a master’s-level OT curriculum and a post-professional doctoral curriculum. An associate professor in the master’s program, she was twice named Teacher of the Year. Over her career, Dr. Kardachi has worked primarily with adults with neurological and orthopedic conditions, as well as with adults with profound developmental disabilities. In addition, she has helped clients of every age increase their mobility, maintain their functional independence at home, and recover from neurological and workplace injuries. Dr. Kardachi has published and presented widely on occupational therapy. She is the co-author of a textbook in press at AOTA Press on adapted methods for everyday activities, and has made numerous presentations on her ongoing research into community-based, fall-prevention programs. In addition, she co-authored peer-reviewed articles on “A Pilot Study Exploring the Impact of Interprofessional Simulation on Role Clarity and Student Readiness for Collaborative Clinical Practice” in The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, and “Evaluation of a Community-based Program that Integrates Joyful Movement into Fall Prevention for Older Adults” in Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine. Dr. Kardachi co-developed and is a consultant to Fall Stop…Move Strong, a New York-based fitness and education fall-prevention program where each week hundreds of older adults throughout the nation participate in choreographed exercises, informed by her research, that keep them active and safe in their homes and communities. As director of the Katz School program, she plans to apply her years of experience supervising students in clinical practice and clinical education to the development of students’ research, clinical reasoning and creative skills. “The program at Yeshiva has the perfect philosophical emphasis on occupation, wellness, evidence and community,” she said. “The advantage of the entry-level doctorate is that it equips students to develop occupational therapy services in a way that broadens the populations we serve and expands the profession’s intellectual boundaries.”