Additional Program Information
The Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). ACOTE contact information is: ACOTE, c/o Accreditation Department, American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814-3449. The phone number is 301-652-2862. ACOTE’s website is www.acoteonline.org and email is accred@aota.org. Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for the national certification examination of the occupational therapy assistant administered by the National Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, (COTA). Passing the NBCOT examination is currently required in order to obtain a license and practice as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in most states (including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut). Please refer to the “Practice Acts” of each state for the licensure requirement of a particular state.
NOTE: A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
NOTE: Students must be in good academic standing with a grade point average of 2.75 or higher in all major courses (all those courses that begin with OCTR) in order to advance to the full-time advanced clinical component of the program. All Occupational Therapy Assistant students are required to complete all Level II Fieldwork within 18 months following completion of academic coursework All required coursework and fieldwork must be completed within five years from the initiation of coursework in the major concentration of occupational therapy.
Admission Criteria/Procedure:
To take the program on a full-time or part-time basis, all candidates must:
- Be admitted to Mercy College.
- Submit official transcripts from all high schools and colleges attended to the Mercy College Admissions Office.
- Have a minimum GPA of 2.75 in order to be interviewed or accepted into the program. Admission is based on a preference for applicants who have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.
- Place at the ENGL 111 level.
- Complete a personal interview with the OTA Program Director or OTA designee.
- Complete the OTA Program Application and a written on-site essay at the time of the interview.
- Submit the three “Recommendation Forms” that are distributed at the time of the interview. These forms serve as references (no separate written reference letters will be accepted or reviewed). Preferably, one “Recommendation Form” will be completed by an Occupational Therapy Assistant or a Registered Occupational Therapist, Work Supervisor or an instructor of a Prerequisite course. The recommendations must be recent (not over six months old). All “Recommendation Forms” must be submitted in a sealed envelope with the reference’s signature over the seal. Any file that does not have the Recommendation Forms completed by the end of the application period deadline will be considered “incomplete” and will not be reviewed by the Admissions Committee.
Deadlines for applications into the Program:
- March 31 for the fall semester.
- October 31 for the spring semester.
Admission Decisions:
- Admission decisions will be based on a ranking of composite numerical scores of an applicant’s GPA, interview, on-site essay and recommendations.
- Decision letters will be mailed to applicants no later than April 15 (Fall semester) and November 15 (Spring semester).
Exceptions:
- Students who are admitted to the program who have less than a cumulative GPA of 3.0 will be admitted on a conditional basis.
- Conditionally admitted students must have between a 2.75 and 3.0 grade point average within the major courses at the end of the first semester. Any student falling below a 2.75 GPA within the major, will receive a faculty review and must submit an educational plan that is reviewed and approved by the Program Director. Such educational plans must have clear objectives with deadlines for achievement.
- Transfer credit will be granted only for those prerequisite courses with a grade of C or higher.
- OTA courses from other colleges will only be accepted in transfer as approved by the Program Director and shall not have any fieldwork component included in the content
- Anatomy and Physics prerequisite courses must have been taken within the last five years.
Each applicant’s record will be reviewed by the Admission Committee of the Program. The final admission decision is based on a cumulative scoring and then ranking of the candidate’s GPA, interview, references and the written essay. Admission to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Mercy College is very competitive; completion of the application requirements and formal interview does not guarantee admission.
Essential Performance Standards
The program has an “Essential Performance Standards” form that outlines the necessary affective skills and professional behaviors, communication/interpersonal skills, psychomotor skills, cognitive skills and self-care skills deemed essential for completion of the program and performance as a competent occupational therapy assistant. This form is reviewed at the time of the interview and is signed by all accepted students stating whether they are or are not capable of performing the skills and abilities that are listed. Information regarding the Office of Accessibilities is discussed at the time of the interview.
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program Requirements and Progression Criteria:
- Students are expected to attend all class sessions. No more than three absences are allowed without risk of failing a major course. Documentation may be requested by the Program Director for any absence/s. Absence on a weekend lab day counts as 3 class absences.
- Students must earn a grade of C or better in all general education Prerequisite courses.
- Any student who receives a grade of C- or below in any prerequisite general education course (prefix “OCTR”) will be required to repeat the course.
- Students must receive a B or better in all OTA core courses (pre-fix OCTR). Students who receive less than a grade of B are required to repeat the course. OTA core courses may only be repeated once.
- Any student who receives a grade below B in two or more OTA core courses or if the student’s GPA, within the OTA major, fails below 2.75, the student may be dismissed from the program after a faculty review.
- Students must take all courses in the sequence according to the curriculum design of the program.
- If a student must repeat a course for any reason, they must wait to do so until the course is offered the following academic year.
- A grade of F in any occupational therapy assistant course may be grounds for dismissal. The faculty will discuss the situation and the Program Director will make the final decision regarding whether dismissal from the program is warranted. These situations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and would require appropriate documentation (medical, legal, etc.)
- Students who receive a rating of “Unsatisfactory” in any category in any Fieldwork I Experience will have their records reviewed by the Program Director and Academic Fieldwork Coordinator. The student will then be discussed with the faculty who will decide if the student may repeat the experience, or if the student will be permitted to repeat the entire major module course. In either case, the student will receive an educational plan that is designed by the faculty that addresses the student’s particular issues.
- Students may not take any Fieldwork II experiences until they have successfully completed all Fieldwork I experiences.
- Should a student fail a Fieldwork II experience, the faculty will discuss the reasons for the failure and a decision will be made as to whether the student will be given an opportunity to repeat the fieldwork experience. Reasons for the decision will be shared with the student during a face-to-face or telephone meeting with the Program Director and the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator. An “Educational Contract” for the repeated FW II assignment will be created by the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator and signed by the student and also by the Program Director prior to the student repeating the failed experience. Failure to uphold the specifications of the educational contract will result in failure of the repeated fieldwork placement and an automatic dismissal from the program. The student must register and pay tuition for any repeated Fieldwork course (OCTR 209 or OCTR 210 ).
- Failure in any two Fieldwork experiences, Fieldwork I or II, will result in an automatic dismissal from the program.
- Students are evaluated by the faculty and their peers (anonymously) throughout the Program during the major courses
- During clinical fieldwork experiences, student work schedules may not interfere with the hours they spend at the fieldwork site.
- National boards exam preparation: Students must attend all scheduled mandatory exam preparatory activities and class meetings during OCTR 214 - Occupational Therapy Practice for the Assistant: Adulthood and Maturity , and during OCTR 209 - Occupational Therapy Practice for the Assistant: Advanced Clinical Education I for students to practice answering certification exam style questions and to discuss the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy, Inc. (NBCOT) exam. These meetings review the program’s mandatory requirements for exam preparation policies. During OCTR 210 - Occupational Therapy Practice for the Assistant: Advanced Clinical Education II a mandatory four-hour practice exam will be conducted by a faculty member. FW Level II grades will be released only if students attend both mandatory sessions and any other preparatory events that are scheduled by the program.
Graduation requirement:
All students must have a cumulative GPA within the major courses of at least a 2.75 to graduate from the program.
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