OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY
ASSISTANT PROGRAM
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT
Nature of Work: The fundamental purpose of occupational therapy is the development and maintenance
of a person’s capacity throughout life to perform those tasks and roles essential to productive living. As an Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) you will provide services to those impaired by physical illness, psychosocial disability, developmental deficits, and aging. Through occupational therapy intervention, individuals are returned to their maximum level of independence, mastering life skills that include: self-care, daily living, leisure, and work.
The occupational therapy assistant carries out a treatment plan under the guidance and supervision of an occupational therapist. The OTA provides a variety of treatment modalities to the patient such as: activities of daily living training, splinting, environmental modifications, safety training during activities of daily living maneuvers, wheelchair positioning and modifications, sensory integration, teaching life skills to patients with mental illness, job site analysis, energy conservation techniques, cognitive retraining and neuromuscular retraining techniques for individuals who have lost functional use of an extremity. Other duties include documenting patient progress and assisting with formulation of discharge planning. The OTA also maintains clinical equipment and supervises aides.
Skills and Abilities: To pursue a career as an occupational therapy assistant, you must possess physical
stamina, manual dexterity and be able to work with people of all ages, temperaments, and personalities. Good communication skills, self initiation, established organizational skills, ingenuity, imagination to adapt activities and treatment, and a caring personality are needed for effective patient care.
All students must be able to fulfill certain “technical functions.” These functions are the essential requirements of the occupational therapy assistant program that students must master to successfully participate in the program and become employable in the field of occupational therapy.
Technical functions for students in the Occupational Therapy Assistant program:
a. All students must possess the manual dexterity, physical stamina, and visual capacity to perform all required technical procedures.
b. Students must be able to communicate in an effectual manner. Students will be required to read and comprehend technical material, as well as write technical reports in a clear and concise manner. In addition, all students must be able to verbally communicate effectively with patients, co-workers, and other occupational therapy personnel.
Each applicant needs to assess his/her own ability to meet the above technical functions.
Accreditation: Lewis and Clark’s OTA program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for
Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. AOTA’s phone number is (301) 652-AOTA. Graduates will be able 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). Illinois and Missouri require candidates to be licensed in order to practice once you have passed the NBCOT examination. Missouri and Illinois Department of Professional
Lewis and Clark Community College is committed to the most fundamental principles of human dignity, equality of opportunity, and academic freedom. This commitment requires that decisions involving students and employees be based on individual merit and be free from discrimination or harassment in all its forms. Lewis and Clark Community College is committed to equal educational and employment opportunity and to affirmative action. Program services and employment opportunities are administered by Lewis and Clark Community College without regard to sex, race, ethnicity, color, creed or religion, national origin, disability, age, marital status, military status, sexual orientation, and other protected categories. The College abides by affirmative action principles, makes reasonable efforts to
accommodate qualified individuals with special needs, and complies with all federal and state
nondiscrimination, equal opportunity and affirmative action laws, orders, and regulations. These include, but are not limited to: (a) Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; (b) Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972; (c) Section 504 or the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1960; (d) the Age Discrimination Ace of 1975, and (e) the Illinois Human Rights Act. Complaints of discrimination prohibited by College policy are to be resolved within the existing College procedures. For additional information or assistance on the equal opportunity, affirmative action and harassment policies and procedures of Lewis and Clark Community College, please contact: Gary Ayres, Vice President of Administration and Community Services. (Title IX, ADA, and 504 Coordinator), Erickson Hall, Room 103, Lewis and Clark Community College, Godfrey, IL 62035*618-468-3000. It is the policy of the College that sexual harassment of employees or students on campus is unacceptable and shall not be tolerated. Any employee or student of the College who feels that he/she has been a victim of a sexual harassment should notify the College’s Personnel Office and the complaint will be investigated.
Application and Admission: Twenty-four students may be admitted one time per year. A new program
cycle will begin each Spring semester. Because the number of applicants may exceed the number of positions available in a given class, the OTA program will employ the following admission process. Application packets will be completed by each student and reviewed using a numerical ranking system for each admission criterion.
Applications are required to provide the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program office, River Bend Arena, Room 243, the following information by October 1st:
• Lewis and Clark application for the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program (5230A). Follow the steps below:
-Log on to the L&C website at www.lc.edu -Click on “Degrees and Certificates”
-Click on “Occupational Therapy Assistant” -Click on “Admissions”
-Click on “Selective Admissions” -Click on “BlazerNet”
-Click on “Prospective Students (Apply Here) -Click on “Web Application”
On second page of this application, in the drop down menu to select a program, click on selective programs, then choose Occupational Therapy Assistant.
• Evidence of high school graduation or GED, high school transcript preferred
• High School seniors are to provide the following information: - a list of senior year subjects planned
- an official transcript of the first six high school semesters
• Eight hours of documented observation in an occupational therapy department, and/or present with related work experience in an occupational therapy practice setting. Candidates must shadow an occupational therapist or a certified occupational therapy assistant (see enclosure)
• Two letters of recommendation – one letter must be from a high school or college instructor (see enclosure)
• Statement of personal goals (see enclosure)
• Prove residency in either Lewis and Clark Community College District No. 536, Southwestern Illinois College District No. 522, or East St. Louis Community College Center at the time of application. Applications from other community college districts will be eligible for admission only if positions are available after an OTA class has been selected from qualified candidates in the above districts.
A student applying to the OTA Program shall:
• Have completed the following:
- One year of high school or one college semester of general biology (BIOL 130, 131, or 132 (preferred), with a grade of C or better
- Qualify for ENGL 131 by appropriate L&C placement test score or have completed one semester of college level English
- Qualify for MATH 116 by appropriate L&C placement test score of one college semester of Algebra with a grade of C or better
- Computer literacy at high school or college or pass proficiency exam for CIS 135, must be three to five years current
One year of high school art is recommended, but not required for admission to the OTA Program.
Point system for admission procedures: Lewis and Clark’s OTA program will admit students on the
basis of a point system. Each application and admission criterion will have a weighted value and the sixteen OTA applicants with the highest score will be eligible for acceptance into the OTA program. A maximum of 100 points is possible.
Maximum points possible are designed as follows:
Grade point average (GPA) 60 points General education course work 16 points Letters of recommendations 4 points Documented observation and/or related work experience 6 points Handwritten statement of personal goals and reason for seeking
admission to the OTA program 6 points Timelines and completeness of application packet 8 points The following is an overview of the point value system:
1. GPA: The student receives three points for every 0.1 grade increment on the GPA scale for 2.0 and above (or 3.0 and above on 5.0 scales). If less than 12 hours of college level
2. General Education Courses: Applicants that have completed general education courses will receive two points per course for a total of 16 points. The general education courses for the OTA curriculum are:
Prefix Title Points BIOL 141 Anatomy-Physiology I 2 BIOL 142 Anatomy-Physiology II 2 ENGL 131 First Year English I 2 PSYC 131 General Psychology 2 PSYC 232 Human Development 2 SOCI 131 Introduction to Sociology 2 SPCH 131/145 Public Speaking 2 Humanities/Fine Arts Elective 2
BIOL 141 and 142 must not have been completed more than five years prior to the Spring semester in which the student is accepted into the OTA Program. You must earn a grade of C or better for BIOL 141 and 142 and PSYC 131 and 232 to receive points.
3. Letter of recommendation: The letters of recommendation are worth up to 2 points a piece for a total of 4 points.
4. Completion and timeliness of the admission packet will have an 8 point value: Application Packet Information Points
Total completion of paperwork 2 Application received on or before due date 2 Transcripts 2 Official copy of high school diploma/GED 2
In the event more than one applicant receives the same total admission points, applicants will be rank ordered according to the date the application packet is received in the Division Office. 5. Handwritten description (5 paragraph essay format) of eight hour clinical observation or work
experience documentation is worth up to 6 points.
6. Handwritten sample (5 paragraph essay format) of at least one page in length stating your personal goals and objectives for pursuing a career as an Occupational Therapy Assistant has up to a 6-point value.
Final acceptance will be given to qualified applicants when they have met the following additional requirements by December 15:
• Submission of a satisfactory health examination report
• Immunizations for tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, and a 2-step TB skin test
• Hepatitis B vaccination is strongly recommended. Written documentation of immunization or waiver must be received.
• Current CPR certification (must include infant and 1 or 2 man resuscitation) • Completion of all program prerequisites
• Overall GPA of 2.0 or better at L&C
Once accepted into the OTA program, a student must meet the following requirements:
• Complete the didactic portion of the program within three years of initiating OTA course work.
• Successfully complete the supervised clinical education component of the program within eighteen months following completion of the didactic portion of the program.
• Register for all OTA courses offered each semester as outlined in the program’s
curriculum. A student may not progress to the next semester coursework without having successfully completed all of the current semester courses.
In order to reduce their class load, students are strongly encouraged to complete all of the general education courses required in the OTA curriculum prior to admission to the program. It is strongly encouraged to have all general education courses completed by the end of the first summer in the curriculum.
To be eligible for graduation with an Associate of Applied Science Degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant, a student must:
• Earn a grade of C or better in each of the following courses: All program courses with an OCTA prefix
BIOL 141 and 142 PSYC 131 and 232
• Satisfy all other requirements for an Associate of Applied Science degree specified by Lewis and Clark Community College.
Student Outcomes:
Following the completion of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program, the graduates are able 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). Illinois requires licensure in order to practice once you have passed the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. For the reporting period of 2010 – 2012, sixty-one (61) students graduated from the L&C OTA Program. During that same reporting period, sixty-one (61) students sat for the certification exam for the first time and fifty-six (56) of those students passed the examination (92%). Of the five (5) students not passing the examination on the first attempt, four (4) students passed the examination on their second attempt. Thus, combining first time and repeat takers, the OTA program has a 98% overall pass rate for graduates during the 2010 –2012 reporting period. All certified graduates of the program are employed in the field of occupational therapy or in a related field.
Thank you for your interest in Lewis and Clark Community College’s Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. For more information, contact:
Lewis and Clark Community College Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
