May 06, 2024  
2024-2025 Catalog with Addendum 
    
2024-2025 Catalog with Addendum

Occupational Therapy Assistant, AAS

Location(s): Central Campus


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Occupational Therapy Assistants (OTAs) work under the direction of Occupational Therapists in treating individuals with injuries, illnesses or disabilities through the therapeutic use of everyday activities (occupations). As an OTA, you can help individuals to develop, recover and improve the skills needed for daily living and working. You will work with individuals across the lifespan in a variety of settings: hospitals, clinics, schools and nursing homes, as well as in their homes, places of employment and other community settings.

Our Occupational Therapy Assistant program provides you with four semesters of classroom and laboratory learning followed by one semester of full-time fieldwork under the supervision of a registered Occupational Therapist (OTR) or a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA).

Upon successful completion of the program, you are eligible to take the national exam given by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) to become a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant. The state of Texas requires a license to practice. Licensure involves a separate application process and is based on successful completion of the NBCOT Certification Examination.

Enrollment in this program is limited. See the Selective Admissions  requirements in the Admission section of this Catalog.

Marketable skills for this award include: critical thinking, flexibility/adaptability, interpersonal skills, problem solving, team work and verbal communication skills.

 

Associate of Applied Science
TSI Complete

General Education Requirements: 16 Credits


Every Associate of Applied Science degree plan must contain at least 15 semester hours of general education courses. At least one course must be taken from each of the following areas: humanities/fine arts (language, philosophy & culture/creative arts), social/behavioral science (social and behavioral sciences/American history/government/political science), and natural science/mathematics (life and physical sciences/mathematics).

Major Courses: 44
General Education Requirements: 16

Total Semester Hours: 60


The Occupational Therapy Assistant program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929; telephone 301-652-AOTA; website www.acoteonline.org.

Recommended Course Sequence:


Prerequisites


Second Semester


Total Semester Hours: 60


Courses titled in bold type represent general education requirements.

Selective admissions  and retention rules apply. Contact the department chair for details. Please note: A felony conviction may affect a student’s acceptance to the program and a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT Certification Examination and/or attain state licensure. Non-OTHA courses may be taken prior to admission to the Occupational Therapy Assistant program.

Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapy assistant administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). In addition, most states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination.

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