Text Only Version
Faculty Home » Faculty » Health Professions » Daniel Martin

Daniel Martin

Position:
Doctoral Capstone Coordinator; Assistant Professor; SU IRB Board Member

Location:
Health Professions Building #243

Phone:
(410) 459-8864

Email: dmartin1@su.edu

Educational History:

M.S., Occupational Therapy, Towson University; D.Sc., Health Science, University of St. Augustine for Health Science.

Fields of Expertise:
  • Quantitative Research
  • Occupational Therapy Regulation and Legislation
  • Chronic Pain Management
  • Manual Therapy

Professional Highlights:

Clinical Professional Highlights:

  • Fellow of the American Academy of Pain Management (ID# 390445)
  • Completed Doctor of Science degree in Health Science, with education on data analysis, research methods, differential diagnosis, pain management rehabilitation, radiography, hand therapeutics, pharmacology, metabolic disorders, rehabilitation orthopedics, spinal instability management and cognitive-behavioral science.
  • Completed D.Sc. dissertation in 2019 on neuropsychological, neurophysiological and cognitive-behavioral phenomena of occupation and chronic pain.
  • Clinical certifications and/or advanced practice training in the rehabilitation management of myofascial pain syndromes (CMTPT); Physical Agent Modalities (electrical stimulation/neuromuscular stimulation, ultrasound, microwave diathermy, cold laser/high intensity laser, ionto- and phonophoretics); manual therapeutics (joint mobilization/manipulation, soft tissue mobilization, muscle energy technique, myofascial release, strain-counterstrain, neural mobilization, intramuscular therapy/dry needling) and static/static progressive/dynamic orthotics/splinting.
  • Clinical experience in chronic pain management, lymphedema, orthopaedics, neuro-rehabilitation, post-accident rehabilitation; experience in rehabilitation administration and management.
  • Adjunct research professor and quantitative research consultant for Bay Path University’s Post Professional Doctor of Occupational Therapy (OTD) program.

    Occupational Therapy Regulation and Legislation

  • Appointed as Chairman of the Maryland Board of Occupational Therapy Practice by Governor Larry Hogan.
  • Serving on the Office of State Governments Occupational Therapy Compact Commission Executive Committee.
  • Served as Board Dignitary to sign Maryland Senate Bill 80 into law with Governor Hogan, making critical improvements to licensing and federal background checking processes for all occupational therapists in the state of Maryland.
  • Chairs and/or serves on the Maryland Board of Occupational Therapy Practice Executive Committee, Dry Needling Regulations committee, Impaired Practitioner Regulation committee, Choosing Wisely project committee and State Practice Act Clean Up committee.
  • Served on the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) Renewal Practice Analysis Panel to analyze and modify national recertification guidelines associated with renewal practices.
  • Presently serving on the NBCOT Continuing Competency Product Development Committee to analyze, develop and revise national occupational therapy certification and continuing education practice.
  • Represented the State of Maryland at the NBCOT 2018, 2019, & 2020 State Regulatory Leadership Forum in Atlanta, GA and Baltimore, MD.
  • Lead presenter for the Maryland Occupational Therapy Dry Needling Regulations at the Maryland Occupational Therapy Association Conference in Columbia, MD in 2019.

    Community Practice Professional Highlights:

  • Currently serving on the Frederick Community College PTA program development advisory board to guide program development and accreditation (2020 – Present)
  • Guest Instructor (Myopain Seminars, 2015): Instruction of students for physiology, diagnosis and treatment of myofascial pain; competency assessor for hands on application of myofascial evaluation and treatment technique.
  • Consulted for community physician practice in Rosedale, MD to direct clinical rehabilitation operations and expand community access for pain management rehabilitation service program.
  • Granted expert status in occupational therapy by the District Attorney’s Office of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to serve expert in-court testimonies on behalf of Baltimore Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation.

Personal Quote:

“I’ll never step foot in academia ever again.”

– Daniel Martin, after graduating with his Masters degree in 2012

Personal Highlights:

Dr. Daniel Martin has had a very fortunate career in occupational therapy, with a lot of good luck, being in the right places at the right time, and smiling-and-nodding. It all began at Towson University’s BS/MS Occupational Therapy program, where he managed to eventually graduate in 2012 despite failing Small Group Dynamics and his Level II psychosocial Fieldwork. Swearing that he would then never step foot in the academic setting again, he then embarked into clinical practice where he developed his passion for chronic pain management and manual therapy, sending him on all kinds of various unforeseen professional adventures and leading him to complete his Fellowship in pain management with the American Academy of Pain Management. His newfound passion in chronic pain management may or may not have changed his mind about his feet and their stepping back into academia, as he then decided to pursue his Doctor of Science degree at the University of St. Augustine in 2014, realizing that chronic pain management in occupational therapy is going to need a lot of work (and especially research). It was here where he fell in love with the dark magjicks of quantitative research and data analytics.

Shortly thereafter, he wrote a letter to the Maryland Board of Occupational Therapy Practice early in his career because he didn’t like some of their rules, and one thing led to another and he ended up on the Board as their current Vice Chairman, feverishly researching and analyzing disciplinary and regulatory policy to this day. His time in state regulation and legislation introduced him to many of the terrifying and powerful druids at the ancient order of the National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT), who have then been kind enough to allow him to serve as the Maryland representative at the NBCOT State Regulatory Leadership Forums, alongside serving on both the Renewal Practice Analysis Panel and the Continuing Competency Product Development Committee. It is unknown if any of his ideas at these panels were any good, however.

In 2019 – after five years of study – he finally finished his dissertation on neuropsychological and the neurophysiological phenomena of chronic pain associated with occupation, where his primary research interest is in further exploring the psychosensory applications in chronic pain assessment and rehabilitation management. At nearly the same time, he had just finished a presentation at the Maryland Occupational Therapy Association conference on his Dry Needling proposed regulations, and after an awkward drive to Chipotle with his wife, she surprised him with his greatest accomplishment of all: he had a daughter on the way! Around this time, he managed to end up as a Director of Rehabilitation in the post-acute setting, where he was responsible for a fairly large team of rehabilitation professionals during a global pandemic, all of which were much more intelligent than he was. At risk of jumping ahead of the story: everyone turned out fine, and Dr. Martin hid in his office until the coast was clear. Dr. Martin’s daughter was also successfully brought into the world at the height of the pandemic (June 2020), challenging him to finally learn how to tie hair into a bun.

Afterward, in a very fortunate bit of networking, he was introduced to Dr. Shanholtz, director of the Shenandoah University (SU) Occupational Therapy Department programs, by an SU OT alumnus (thank you, Chris!). After being gifted with the opportunity to teach Quantitative Research as an adjunct for the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program in the summer of 2021, Dr. Martin knew from that moment on that he was home – professionally speaking – as he loved every single second he got to spend with the SU students and faculty. After some begging and pleading, the stars aligned and he was brought on full-time, leaving his previous administrative job behind. He hasn’t worked for a second since and is fortunate to be learning from the incredibly bright students and faculty of the Doctor of Occupational Therapy program, where he has been tasked with researching, teaching, and revamping the research education process.