San Juan College has applied for accreditation and has been granted Candidacy Status 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 20814-3449. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.
Once accreditation status of the Occupational Therapy Assistant program has been obtained, San Juan College graduates will receive an Associate of Applied Science degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA). Academic and fieldwork courses will prepare learners as a generalist, entry-level Occupational Therapy Assistant who works under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist. Occupational Therapy practitioners establish or restore a client’s ability to function in their chosen roles and environments in the home, facility, school, workplace or community.
Graduates of an accredited OTA program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapy assistant, which is administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). Contact information is NBCOT, 12 South Summit Avenue, Suite 100, Gaithersburg, MD 20877-4150 or www.nbcot.org.
After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). In addition, most states, including New Mexico, require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. For information contact: Board of Examiners for Occupational Therapy, Toney Anaya Building, 2550 Cerrillos Road, Second Floor, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 or occupationaltherapy@state.nm.us.
Legal Concerns: Note that felony or misdemeanor convictions may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure. Potential applicants with these concerns should contact the OTA Program as soon as possible at 505-566-3527 for further information.
The OTA program accepts a maximum of 20 students every year with a selective admission policy. The application deadline is detailed in the application packet, which may be downloaded from www.sanjuancollege.edu/ota. Acceptance into the program is based on the admissions criteria outlined in the program application. The program starts in the fall semester of each year. At the time of application, students must either be enrolled in or have completed all general education AND all prerequisite courses. All required courses - prerequisites, general education and core OTA courses- must be completed with a C or better. For additional information about the OTA program please call 505-566-3849 or email ota@sanjuancollege.edu.
Meeting minimal requirements does not guarantee acceptance into the Program due to limited class size. The student is responsible for all travel expenses to and from program affiliates.
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