Sarah Grinder MOT, OTR/L

Sarah (Nez Perce/Lumbee Tribe) is an occupational therapist whose clinical work has been primarily with children in early childhood settings. She has additional experience in school-based practice, as well as in community settings for adults with developmental disabilities and program development for occupational therapy with college students. She is a graduate of USM’s MOT program.

Sarah teaches pediatrics, ethics and occupational justice, occupational science, research design, and OT foundations courses. She enjoys working with doctoral students making an impact in their settings and would like to continue to support the research and program evaluation needs of local OT practitioners. 

Sarah’s career goals include finishing her PhD in occupational therapy, building culturally safe pathways and supportive systems for more Native students to enter the healthcare professions, and incorporating Native American perspectives on health into occupational science and occupational therapy practice. At USM, she was most recently the co-chair of the 2022-2024 Gloria S. Duclos Convocation whose theme was, “The Rivers We Belong To: Grounding Indigenous Presence and Sovereignty.”

Sarah was recently selected as one of six RISE Pathway Program Scholars by the American Occupational Therapy Association for 2025-2027. Nationally, she is also involved in the Society for the Study of Occupation (SSO:USA), the OT-U collaborative for occupational therapy practitioners working on college campuses, and Occupational Therapy for Native Americans (OTNA).  Locally, she is a member of the Maine Occupational Therapy Association and the Maine Trykers (AMBUCS/Amtryke).

When not working, Sarah enjoys watching her favorite local and national sports teams, being active outdoors with her husband and dogs, and participating in community theater.