Mega Doctor News
By Selene Rodriguez
South Texas College faculty member Layman Darnell Miller was recently honored as the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) of the Year by the Texas Occupational Therapy Association (TOTA), a prestigious statewide recognition celebrating his decades of service as a clinician, educator, veteran and advocate for the profession.
As he completes his final semester before retiring, Miller was also recognized with his second National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development (NISOD) Excellence Award, a meaningful capstone to his distinguished career and a fitting close to his remarkable 40 years in occupational therapy.
“I’ve had a great career and a lot of fun, but you must know when it’s time to go. For me, it is time to step aside, spend time with my family and let the next generation lead,” he said. “I am grateful to have spent most of my career at STC and to have been part of something bigger than myself. I had a vision for where we could go, and I believe we reached it. In my opinion, we have one of the best OTA programs not in the state, but in the nation.”
Miller, 64, a devoted husband and father of three, grew up in Chicago and found his way into occupational therapy almost by accident. After leaving college due to financial hardship, he enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1984 and was unexpectedly introduced to a profession he had never heard of, but would ultimately spend his life serving.
“I wanted to go into physical therapy because I loved sports and exercise, but I couldn’t afford to wait for a long training list,” he said. “The recruiter mentioned occupational therapy out of the blue and I went into it almost completely blind. Once I saw soldiers using real-life activities to heal, I thought, this is something I would love to do.”
Miller served six years on active duty before returning to civilian life in 1990. By then he had gained broad experience in military rehabilitation and had already earned his national certification, which allowed him to walk straight into clinical work.
He moved to the Rio Grande Valley, where his wife was originally from, and quickly secured a position in outpatient rehabilitation.
Over the next several years, Miller built a wide-ranging clinical career, working everywhere from outpatient rehab to hand therapy, nursing homes, pediatrics and even a brain injury clinic. He later spent time in a long-term acute care hospital, an experience he described as some of the most meaningful work of his career.
“You see patients come in barely hanging on and 30 days later they are walking out,” he said. “You help them get their life back, but the impact goes far beyond one person. You see their family, their roles and the responsibilities waiting for them. Even if your part feels small, the impact reaches far beyond that one person. OT teaches you to see the bigger picture, not just the patient, but the entire world connected to them.”
In 1999, Miller received a call that would change his path once again: STC’s OTA program, which had launched only two years earlier, invited him to join the faculty.
“I didn’t know how they found me, but it was probably because there weren’t many OTAs around at the time. There was no program here. Even today we are still the only one in the Rio Grande Valley,” he said. “And I took on the challenge because, as I tell my students, when an opportunity comes, saying yes can potentially change your life. It did for me because 26 years later, I’m still here.”
Miller went on to grow with the program, moving from adjunct instructor to lab assistant, full-time faculty member and eventually to Program Chair in 2014.
He would also go on to earn his bachelor’s degree in Economics, the career he had originally pursued before the Army, as well as two master’s degrees, one in Business Administration and one in Education.
Over the years, his commitment to hands-on, engaged learning, earned him multiple honors, including his first NISOD Excellence Award in 2017 and STC’s Distinguished Teaching and Learning Award in 2022.
He credits these recognitions to what he calls his “unconventional” teaching style.
“The way I teach is very different,” he explained. “I am very hands-on and we do some of the craziest things in the classroom, from baking cakes to arts and crafts, but it is all for learning. We also take on community-based projects and creative assignments that keep students actively involved in the process.”
One of these is the Elder Project, in which each student is paired with an older adult, often a grandparent or family member. Through assessments, activities and guided interactions, students learn course concepts by applying them directly with their elder.
“Many students discover new insights about their loved ones, often recognizing abilities or concerns they had never noticed before,” he explained. “They learn the material, but they also learn about the person, which is a key principle of what OT is.”
Another initiative is the annual community-based project, where students research a population in need and design a new service delivery model for occupational therapy. Over the years, this project has supported organizations dedicated to individuals with Down syndrome, older adults, caregivers and other underserved groups.
Under Miller’s leadership, STC’s program has maintained a 100% certification pass rate over the last several years, and in 2025 it was recognized as the No. 2 OTA program in Texas by CollegeFactual, a national organization that analyzes federal education data to rank colleges and academic programs across the country.
“Many of our students go on to master’s and doctoral programs and tell me they already know the content because they learned it here. Hearing that is incredible,” he said. “And a lot of that has to do with how STC has supported me through the years, with leadership that encouraged my crazy ideas and a team I am proud to work with. I came in not knowing how to teach and I grew because of the support STC gave me.”
Beyond the classroom, Miller has served on the TOTA state board as the OTA Representative since 2023, advocating for OTAs and supporting the continued growth of the profession, a mission he plans to carry on even after retirement.
“I can see myself still doing OT in some way. I can make suggestions and use my knowledge to help the people I know,” he said. “I feel blessed to have been part of STC and the incredible work we do in shaping these professionals. When I became program chair, I was told times change and to move the program forward, and now I find myself saying the same thing. The program is in the best hands and ready for its next chapter, and I am ready for mine. I leave grateful and proud.”
