Dr. Zipporah Brown Podcast Interview

Dr. Zipporah Brown, OTD, MS, OTR/L, DipACLM is a licensed occupational therapist, academician, and trailblazer committed to increasing access to education and healthcare. Dr. Brown has a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology from California State University of Dominguez Hills, a Master’s of Science Degree in Occupational Therapy from West Coast University-Center for Graduate Studies, and a Post-Professional Doctoral Degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California in which she co-founded the first student run diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) association within the division. As a health and wellness practitioner, Dr. Brown specializes in lifestyle and health management interventions and is a Board-Certified Diplomate of Lifestyle Medicine, one of two in the entire state of Oregon. Her eagerness to increase access to equitable healthcare stems from witnessing far too many loved ones grapple with the impact of inadequately addressed health conditions. 

Dr. Brown's work has focused extensively on establishing occupational therapy’s distinct role in emerging practice settings with an emphasis on improving access through the development and implementation of occupational therapy programs. Within her doctoral training at the USC Chan Division of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy Faculty Practice and Homes for Life Foundation, she specialized in health promotion through lifestyle optimization, occupational engagement, and community integration for underserved populations. As an inaugural Community Based Fieldwork Instructor she developed occupational therapy programs in un(der)served communities; increasing access to services as well as providing students with transformative opportunities to apply theoretical and practical knowledge. Sequentially, as an Academic Fieldwork Coordinator, she worked at the height of the pandemic to collaboratively curate unique fieldwork opportunities for students in preparation for entry-level practice. Most recently, Dr. Brown became the inaugural occupational therapist at Linn County Department of Mental Health in Albany, Oregon. There her emerging role focuses on health promotion and disease management for individuals living with persistent mental illness. 

Dr. Brown’s current role in academia primarily focuses on developing and implementing lifestyle medicine competencies within multidisciplinary curriculums. Notably, she initiated the integration of lifestyle medicine competencies into the Doctor of Physical Therapy curriculum at Western University of Health Sciences and went on to spearhead a partnership with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine to become the first DPT program approved for the ACLM Partial Academic Pathway program. Concurrently, she collaborates with faculty and community partners to develop meaningful community service and outreach projects in rural and underserved communities. 

As a budding leader in the occupational therapy profession, she has served in various leadership roles within the Occupational Therapy Association of California (OTAC). Namely, a member of the OTAC Leadership subcommittee of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Ad Hoc Committee, in which she contributed to the development of a proposal for the addition of a Chief of DEI position; and as a Co-Chair of the OTAC Student Leadership Committee in which she amplified the voices of student leaders through creating safe spaces. She most recently contributed to the development of a Community of Practice Group for the American Occupational Therapy Association in which she facilitates national discussions focused on establishing best practices and specific tools to enhance occupational therapy’s role in health promotion.

Dr. Brown has presented research addressing psychosocial considerations for women living in permanent supportive housing; strategies to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in health professional programs; and the integration of lifestyle medicine competencies into allied health professional programs at state, national and international conferences. 

Ultimately, she uses her formal training and lived experience to increase access to transformative person and community-centered healing practices.

 

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