Occupational Therapy Assistant
Department of Allied Health: (361) 698-2820
The Occupational Therapy Assistant program curriculum is designed to prepare an individual as an Occupational Therapy Assistant; a health care professional who works directly under the supervision of a Licensed Occupational Therapist. The Occupational Therapy Assistant provides the rehabilitative service of those individuals whose abilities to cope with tasks of living are threatened or impaired by physical injury or illness, developmental deficits, the aging process, poverty and cultural differences, or psychological and social disabilities.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant collaborates occupational therapy services with appropriate supervision to prevent deficits and to maintain or improve function in activities of daily living, work, play, leisure, and in the underlying components such as sensorimotor, cognitive, and psychosocial. The Occupational Therapy Assistant may implement treatment programs developed by the Licensed Occupational Therapist which may include therapeutic exercises; therapeutic activities; activities of daily living training; living skills training; splint design and construction; measuring joint motion and muscle function to upper extremities; cognitive and perceptual motor skills training and patient and family education.
Graduates will be eligible to take the examination for certification to become a licensed Occupational Therapy Assistant by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc.
In addition to the standard College admission process, students are accepted into the Occupational Therapy program based on a ranking point system. In order to be considered for admission into the program, the student must
- submit the completed application for admission and all required admission documentation by July 15.
- complete all prerequisite course requirements
- furnish two letters of reference
- have a minimum grade point average of 2.5
- have completed a minimum of 10 hours of observation in the occupational therapy field by the application deadline
- complete HPRS 1006 and HPRS 1004 before applying to the program
After program acceptance, the student must submit a completed physical examination which includes a series of immunizations, current flu shots, the complete Hepatitis B series, a current college transcript and a current card of completion in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for Health Care Providers which must be maintained throughout the program. Upon enrollment, the student must pass a background check and drug screen test, at student's expense, for security clearance and continued enrollment in the program.
Contact the program director for further information at (361) 698-1846.
The Del Mar College 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. AOTA's phone number is (301) 652-AOTA. Satisfactory completion of the program entitles the student to an Associate in Applied Science degree. The student is 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). Most states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination.
All OTA students must complete Level II Fieldwork within 18 months following completion of academic preparation.