125 Credits

Occupational therapy is a health discipline that provides services to people whose lives have been disrupted by physical injury, illness, and developmental, psychosocial, or aging-related problems. “Occupational” in this sense does not necessarily refer to a person’s employment. Instead, it means therapy that enables a person to gain the function necessary to perform day-to-day work, self-care and leisure activities as related to one’s roles. Occupational therapy assistants are often part of a health team that not only includes an occupational therapist but may also include physicians, nurses, social workers, teachers, physical therapists and other specialists. Besides preparing to become occupational therapy assistants, students in this program learn many skills that will serve in other helping careers.

Occupational therapy assistants are employed at public schools, long-term care centers, hospitals, rehabilitation centers and geriatric day centers to name a few. Assistants work under the supervision and consultation of an occupational therapist to provide patient treatments. They also provide assistance with patient assessments.

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 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. AOTA’s phone number is (301) 652-AOTA. Graduates of the program will be able to sit for the national certification examination for occupational therapy assistants administered by the National Board for Certification of Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) located at 12 S. Summit Avenue, Suite 100, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. NBCOT’s phone number is (301) 990-7979. After successful completion of this examination, the graduate will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). Washington State requires licensure in order to practice.

Felony convictions may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination and attain state licensure. NBCOT offers an Early Determination Review to individuals who (1) have been charged with or convicted of felony, (2) have had any professional license, registration or certification revoked, suspended or subject to probationary conditions by a regulatory authority or certification board, and/or (3) have been found by any court, administrative or disciplinary proceeding to have committed negligence, malpractice, recklessness or willful or intentional misconduct which resulted in harm to another.

An individual who is considering entering the Green River College Occupational Therapy Assistant program, or has already entered the program but is not yet eligible to apply for the certification examination, may have his/her character information reviewed prior to actually applying for the examination by requesting the review. The fee for the review is $100; a payment form can be found on NBCOT’s Website - www.nbcot.org - under “Forms”.

New students are admitted twice a year (fall and spring). Level 2 fieldwork requirements must be completed within 18 months of academic courses. All Level I and Level II fieldwork experiences are completed during normal daytime business hours. Green River cannot guarantee placement at student geographical location and that up to a 90-minute drive (one way) for level 1 fieldwork and up to 60-minute drive (one way) for level II fieldwork is possible. Also, students may be placed outside the Puget Sound area.

Program Application

Applications are accepted in January for the spring start program and February for the fall program. Specific dates can be found on the program website. When the program fills, applicants will be placed on alternate list.

OTA program admission requirements and the application process are subject to change from year to year. If you are planning to apply for a later year, the packet will provide guidelines for the application process. The application packet is updated each fall for the following year and it is the applicant’s responsibility to be aware of current application requirements.

1. Candidates may apply when they have earned a minimum of 20 quarter credits in program prerequisite courses with a minimum grade of 2.0 in each course and a cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 (grades on 4.0 scale).
2. Prerequisite courses for the OTA program are:
   1. AP 103  or BIOL& 241  and AP 104  or BIOL& 242  - Sequencing of all Anatomy and Physiology courses must be taken at the same institution.
   2. ENGL& 101  
   3. PSYC& 100  
3. Submission of a one page statement describing applicant’s interest and knowledge in the field.
4. A minimum of 20 hours of work, volunteer, or job shadow experience in occupational therapy. All job shadowing needs to be documented on job shadowing form and placed in a sealed envelope signed by an OT or COTA at the time of the application is required.

Selection Process:

Students who satisfy the above requirements will be selected based on academic preparation, GPA, and familiarity with occupational therapy including the essential functions of the occupational therapy assistant student. The procedures used in selection, evaluation, and retention do not discriminate and are consistent with the process of Green River College.

Does the program transfer to four-year schools?

The courses for the Occupational Therapy Assistant program are not designed to transfer. Students who seek occupational therapy degrees should pursue a Bachelor’s degree and then attend an occupational therapy program.

Contacts: Melissa Porras-Monroe, ext. 4933 - MPorras-Monroe@greenriver.edu, Lisa Finnsson, ext.4341 - lfinnssonf@greenriver.edu, Health Occupations Admissions, ext. 2641 - healthoccadmissions@greenriver.edu

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