110 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 Practitioners work with individuals across the life span, birth to death.
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 associate-degree-level 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 Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929 ACOTE’s phone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its Web address is www.acoteonline.org. Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for occupational therapy assistants administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this examination, the graduate will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the result of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
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 and payment form can be found on NBCOT’s Website https://www.nbcot.org/exam/edr.
Students can choose from two academic options, as traditional full-time students that begin every fall and consists of 7 quarters of study. Or a hybrid, that begins every other (odd years) spring quarter on an evening schedule where the length of study would be 9 quarters. Level II 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 can take 90 minutes or greater (one way) for Level 1 and Level 2. In addition, students may be placed outside the Puget Sound area.
Program Application
OTA program admission requirements and the application process are subject to change from year to year. Students who declare their career path as Occupational Therapy Assistant, can apply when enrolling in their Science Course. A contingency acceptance can be granted while the Science course is being completed. While it is encouraged to take the following courses prior to starting the program, English, Math and Communication can be taken concurrently while in program. Alternatively, students can note on their application that they would like to be considered for admission AFTER all pre-requisites are taken.
All courses must be completed with a 2.0 or greater to maintain good status in the program.
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Prerequisite courses for the OTA program are:
a. BIOL& 175
or AP 103
or BIOL& 241
- Complete an essay with specific prompt (see program website).
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For shadowing or work experience requirements please see program website.
NOTE: Students who may not meet the stated entry requirements should contact the Program Faculty to learn about alternative pathways for entry into the OTA Program.
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.
Note Regarding Open Enrollment
Contact: Health Occupations Admissions, ext. 2641 - healthoccadmissions@greenriver.edu
Information Session: Sign up: greenriver.edu/info-sessions
Program Website: Occupational Therapy Assistant | https://www.greenriver.edu/students/academics/degrees-programs/occupational-therapy-assistant/
