Accreditation

ULM’s Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 7501 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 510E, Bethesda, MD  20814. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its Web address is www.acoteonline.org.

 

About the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program

Occupational Therapy is a health profession which evaluates and treats people with developmental, social, emotional, or physical problems and helps these individuals develop the skills to overcome the challenges of a disability.

The aim is to enable those who are temporarily or permanently disabled to be as independent as possible in the areas of work, home, self-care, and leisure skills while recovering from or adapting to their disability.

Occupational therapy services are provided by occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants. An occupational therapist is responsible for the evaluation and treatment of individuals with disabilities. An Occupational Therapy Assistant contributes to the evaluation and treatment of an individual under the supervision of and in collaboration with an occupational therapist.

Occupational Therapy Assistants work in such places as schools, nursing homes, hospitals, outpatient centers, private practice, rehabilitation centers, and mental health centers.

ULM offers a Associate of Science (A.S.) degree in the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program (OCTA). To enroll, students must have a minimum 2.700 GPA on a 4.000 scale.

The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program (OCTA) consists of:

• Five academic semesters divided into two segments, pre-occupational therapy assistant (POTA) and occupational therapy assistant (OCTA) 
  
  
• Level II fieldwork for a minimum of 16 full-time weeks in approved settings scheduled and coordinated by The University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Graduates of the program will be 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).

In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results 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.

ADVISING:

To schedule an advising appointment, please call your advisor in the Student Success Center or Mrs. Jennifer Perodeau at 318-342-1769.