Occupational Therapy Assistant, A.A.S.

Print Degree Planner (opens a new window) |

Health Career Admissions
Program Code: G.OTA.AAS

Graduation requirement: 71 credit hours

The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program prepares the student to practice occupational therapy at the assistant level. OT assistants work with clients who have physical, cognitive, and emotional impairments to improve and support functional performance in daily living activities.

Employment opportunities are located in hospitals, clinics, extended care facilities, school systems, day-care centers, and home health care.

Upon successful completion of the program, the graduate is eligible to take the certification examination given by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) to become a certified occupational therapy assistant (COTA). A felony conviction may affect a graduate’s ability to sit for the NBCOT exam or attain state licensure. Licensure for COTAs is also required for practice by the state of Illinois.

This 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 301/652-6611, and its web address is www.acoteonline.org.

Program Notes

This program prepares students to meet the educational requirements for licensure in the state of Illinois. For information about how this program may meet licensure requirements in other states, see State Licensure/Certification Information on the Parkland website.
This is a selective admissions program; students must be admitted into the program before taking OTA courses. See the selective admissions page for more information regarding admission, progression, and graduation.
To be admitted to the program, students must have current placement out of MAT 072 and must place into ENG 101 and college level reading.
A selective admission score of 2.5 or above must be attained to be considered for admission.
Students who are non-native speakers of English must establish English proficiency through:
- Minimum TOEFL iBT scores in reading, listening, speaking, and writing: 18-18-20-18; or
- Minimum IELTS scores in reading, listening, speaking, and writing: 6-6-6.5-5.5.
The OTA program uses a rubric with the selective admission score that gives additional admission points for completion of BIO 121 .
For progression and graduation, students are required to maintain a 2.0 minimum GPA, a C or higher in all program courses, and a passing clinical grade in all OTA courses, and maintain Parkland College Code of Conduct and the OT Code of Ethics.
A history of felony conviction may limit clinical placement and license to practice. Contact the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation at 217/785-0800.
All Level II fieldwork requirements for OTA 213 or OTA 217 must be completed by the end of the following semester in order to progress and/or graduate from the program.

Graduation Requirements

Program Courses (55 credit hours)

BIO 121 - Anatomy and Physiology I 4 credit hours
BIO 122 - Anatomy and Physiology II 4 credit hours
KIN 186 - Introduction to Human Movement 3 credit hours
OTA 111 - Introduction to Occupational Therapy 3 credit hours
OTA 112 - Therapeutic Media (Fieldwork I Experience) 3 credit hours
OTA 113 - Health and Occupation I 3 credit hours
OTA 114 - Therapeutic Process I 3 credit hours
OTA 115 - Fieldwork I/Clinic II 4 credit hours
OTA 211 - Health and Occupation II 3 credit hours
OTA 212 - Therapeutic Process II 3 credit hours
OTA 213 - Fieldwork II/Clinic I 5 credit hours
OTA 214 - Occupational Therapy Theory 3 credit hours
OTA 215 - Health and Occupation III 3 credit hours
OTA 216 - Therapeutic Process III 3 credit hours
OTA 217 - Fieldwork II/Clinic II 5 credit hours
OTA 218 - Therapeutic Groups and Populations 3 credit hours

General Education Courses (16 credit hours)

ENG 101 - Composition I 3 credit hours
ENG 102 - Composition II 3 credit hours
PSY 101 - Introduction to Psychology 4 credit hours
PSY 209 - Human Growth and Development 3 credit hours
SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology 3 credit hours

Suggested Full-time Sequence

Title

Occupational Therapy Assistant, A.A.S.

Program Notes

Graduation Requirements

Program Courses (55 credit hours)

General Education Courses (16 credit hours)

Suggested Full-time Sequence

1st Semester (Summer)

2nd Semester (Fall)

3rd Semester (Spring)

4th Semester (Summer)

5th Semester (Fall)

6th Semester (Spring)