The Career
Occupational therapy assistants work under the direction of occupational therapists to provide rehabilitative services to persons with mental, physical, emotional or developmental impairments. The ultimate goal is to improve clients’ quality of life and ability to perform daily activities.
For example, occupational therapy assistants help injured workers re-enter the labor force by teaching them how to compensate for lost motor skills or help individuals with learning disabilities increase their independence. Occupational therapy assistants work in a variety of settings including long-term care, acute and outpatient rehabilitation centers, school districts and home care.
Employment Opportunities
The occupational therapy assistant profession is experiencing high job growth, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By 2020, the number of positions is projected to increase by 41%.
In May 2012, the industries employing the largest numbers of occupational therapy assistants and their annual median salaries were:
| |
Offices of Other Health Practitioners |
$54,730 |
| |
Nursing Care Facilities |
$57,520 |
| |
General Medical and Surgical Hospitals |
$49,290 |
| |
Elementary and Secondary Schools |
$45,010 |
| |
Home Health Care Services |
$60,820 |
The Program
The AAS in Occupational Therapy Assistant is a one-plus-one degree program which prepares students to practice as certified occupational therapy assistants (COTA) after meeting certification and state licensure standards. East Central is one of five colleges in the Missouri Health Professions Consortium (MHPC) currently selected to offer the program coordinated through the University of Missouri, School of Health Professions. ECC offers and enrolls students in the general education coursework; sophomore level (professional level) coursework originates from a classroom located on the University of Missouri-Columbia campus and is conveyed to ECC students via interactive television and Internet-based technology.
Through the combination of general education, professional-level coursework, classroom, laboratory practice and clinical fieldwork experiences, students learn the profession of occupational therapy assistant. The professional year does not run on a traditional ECC academic cycle; rather, classes begin the Monday after New Year’s Day and run through the end of the fall semester. Completion of professional year coursework takes one full calendar year.
Admission Process and Requirements
To enter this course of study, students must meet both institution and program-specific criteria. East Central requires all students to have completed: their high school diploma or equivalent, the ECC application for admission and a placement test as specified by the college.
Enrollment in the MHPC Occupational Therapy Assistant program is selective and an information packet with application materials is available online or at the Union campus. Students must complete all general education coursework PRIOR to entry into the professional-level program. However, students can complete coursework in the semester prior to the start of the program. Under these circumstances, program admission would be contingent upon successful completion of general education prerequisite coursework and maintenance of the required 2.5 GPA. Transcript evidence of satisfactory completion of general education/prerequisite coursework must be received with the application packet.
ECC may not be able to offer admission to all qualified applicants. Only students meeting all admissions criteria and submitting completed application packets within the established timeframe will be considered. The selection committee meetings are conducted the summer before the start of the professional year. Admission decisions of the selection committee are final. Applicants will receive a letter regarding admissions status following committee review.
Transfer Options
Articulation agreements provide students who have graduated from the Missouri Health Professionals Consortium OTA Program the opportunity to complete a Bachelor of Health Science degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia. While a bachelor’s degree is not required to practice as an OTA, students who have earned an AAS in Occupational Therapy Assistant from the MHPC OTA Program are guaranteed that 60 credit hours will transfer to UMC if they wish to pursue this additional degree.
For other four-year transfer institutions; many of the credits are accepted as transfer credit. Please note that transferring credit is decided by the bachelor degree-granting institution, not ECC. Students who are seeking transfer are advised to contact the four-year institutions regarding transferability before beginning a program offered through East Central College.
Accreditation
The MHPC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Following successful completion of coursework and passing of the certification exam, individuals will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). Even with successful coursework completion, students may be prohibited from sitting for the NBCOT Certification Exam if they have a felony conviction.
In Missouri, state licensure is required in order to practice and acquisition of a license is contingent upon passing the NBCOT Certification Exam. For more information regarding accreditation, please contact the American Occupational Therapy Association:
ACOTE
c/o Accreditation Department American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-3449
Phone: 301-652-2682
TDD: 800-377-8555
accred@aota.org
East Central College is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
30 N. LaSalle St., Suite 2400
Chicago, Illinois 60602-2504
800-621-7440
Contacts
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