Student Handbook
Occupational Therapy
Assistant Program
Class of 2009
Dear Occupational Therapy Assistant Student:
We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program and briefly discuss what you may expect while you are attending classes here at CincinnatiState.
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College is interesting and demanding. Our goal is to teach occupational therapy knowledge and professionalism. Each learning experience offered as well as our policies that define our expectations of you, the student, are designed to prepare you to be employable in a variety of treatment settings.
Occupational Therapy is an excellent field that offers a wide variety of choices in the types of clients you will work with and the treatment settings in which you may be employed. Our curriculum is structured to prepare you to be employable in a great many of these settings.
This manual is designed to provide information that you will need throughout your coursework. It also contains forms that you will have to use throughout the program. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU KEEP THIS MANUAL HANDY AND BRING IT TO CLASS WHEN ASKED TO DO SO BY YOUR INSTRUCTOR.
The faculty is also available for questions and guidance. Please schedule an appointment when necessary.
We are looking forward to working with you.
Best Wishes,
Claudia Miller, MHS, OTR/L
Program Chairperson
Cindy Kief, MS, COTA/L
Fieldwork Coordinator
CINCINNATISTATE TECHNICAL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT PROGRAM
STUDENT HANDBOOK
Master Table of Contents
1.Section I:Orientation
Mission, Vision, Philosophy
**pages 15-20OTA Program Policies
2.Section II:Curriculum Information
3.Section III:Level I Fieldwork
4.Section IV:Level II Fieldwork
5.Section V:Credentialing
6.Section VI:Professional Organization
7.Section VII:Lab Procedures
Schedule of Important Dates
Students must comply with deadlines for completion of their history and physical, TB tests and Hepatitis B Vaccination. Failure to do so will result in dismissal from the program.
Early Fall2007Orientation to OTA Program during OTA 4600
AOTA Membership due at midterm!!
Late Fall 2007Uniform Shirts required for all classes and off campus activities.
January 28, 2008Completed Physical Examination
Verification of Second Hepatitis B, TB, MMR Vaccination and copy of valid CPR card due to OTA Program Director
February 4, 2008Level I Pediatric Fieldwork Begins
April 15, 2008Level I Psychiatric Fieldwork Begins
November 13, 2008Level I Adult Physical Disability Fieldwork Begins
AOTA membership renewal due!!
January 27, 2009 Verification of Repeat Negative TB Testing due to OTA Program Director
Spring 2009Level II Clinicals Begin
June, 2009Graduation Ceremony from CincinnatiState (for those on Summer Term clinicals only!)
October, 2009OTA Pinning Ceremony – Celebration of Program Completion
November, 2009NBCOT Certification Exam
June, 2010Graduation Ceremony from CincinnatiState (for those with Early or Late Fall clinicals)
CincinnatiState Technical & Community College
Mission:CincinnatiState Technical and Community College provides student focused, accessible quality technical and general education, academic transfer, experiential and cooperative education, and workforce development.
Vision:CincinnatiState will be the Technical and Community College of choice in our region, nationally recognized for academic excellence and workforce development.
Values:As a College Community…
¨We embrace experiential and lifelong
learning, personal growth and employability.
¨We create and promote a civil
and respectful environment.
¨We anticipate and effectively respond
to changing stakeholder expectations.
¨We honor the diversity of people and ideas.
Board of Trustees
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College is governed by a nine-member board of trustees. All are appointed by the Governor of the State of Ohio.
The Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Board of Trustees normally meet on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Traditionally, no meetings are held in July or December. Special meetings may be called as situations dictate.
MISSION AND PURPOSE STATEMENT
OF THE
OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ASSISTANT PROGRAM
Mission
The mission of this program is to prepare the graduate as a competent entry-level generalist qualified to practice in the field of OT,to meet community workforce needs, to provide opportunities for experiential and cooperative education with exposure to non-traditional and emerging areas of practice, to educate the OT community regarding current educational trends and practice issues, and to function within standards of the college, the AOTA, and ACOTE.
The purpose of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is multi-faceted. Major areas inherent in this program are:
1.To meet the Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant workforce needs in the greater Cincinnati area.
2.To prepare competent entry-level Occupational Therapy Assistants with critical thinking skills, problem solving abilities, effective communication skills and ability to function within a healthcare team in the variety of potential practice areas.
- To prepare a diverse student population to be contributing members of Cincinnati’s multicultural community.
- To instill the values of lifelong learning, flexibility, creativity and leadership within an ever-changing healthcare system.
5.To serve as a resource to both the OT community and the community at large in providing information about current trends and emerging issues related to the practice of OT.
6.To function within the framework of the college's mission, policies, and procedures.
- To function within the Standards For An Accredited Educational Program For The Occupational Therapy Assistant of the Accreditation Committee for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE).
A program Advisory Committee composed of occupational therapy practitioners, as well as students and a community representative from a variety of practice settings in the community will help ensure that the program prepares the graduates to do this.
CINCINNATISTATE TECHNICAL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
Statement of Philosophy
The statement of philosophy of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College encompasses three areas: the philosophy of Man, the philosophy of Occupational Therapy and the philosophy of Learning. In doing so, it accepts as its general philosophy the American Occupational Therapy Association's documents of "The Philosophical Base of Occupational Therapy" and the "Philosophy of Education". These are now presented:
The Philosophical Base of Occupational Therapy
Attachment to Resolution C
Man is an active being whose development is influenced by the use of purposeful activity. Using their capacity for intrinsic motivation, human beings are able to influence their physical and mental health and their social and physical environment through purposeful activity. Human life includes a process of continuous adaptation. Adaptation is a change in function that promotes survival and self-actualization. Biological, psychological, and environmental factors may interrupt the adaptation process at any time throughout the life cycle. Dysfunction may occur when adaptation is impaired. Purposeful activity facilitates the adaptive process.
Occupational Therapy is based on the belief that purposeful activity (occupation), including its interpersonal and environmental components, may be used to prevent and mediate dysfunction, and to elicit maximum adaptation. Activity as used by the Occupational Therapist includes both an intrinsic and a therapeutic purpose.
November 1978
Handbook 2007- 1 -
American Occupational Therapy Association
Philosophy of Education
Occupational therapy education is grounded in a shared belief that humans are complex beings engaged in an interactive process of continuous adaptation and growth influenced by their physical, social and cultural environments. Occupational therapy educators advocate the use of occupation to facilitate adaptation represented by a change in functional performance or context that promotes survival, self-actualization, and quality of life.
Learning is valued as a life-long process promoting competence and scholarship through entry-level, post –professional and continuing education. Occupational therapy educators involve the learner in a collaborative process that integrates academic knowledge, experiential learning, clinical reasoning, and self-reflection. Occupational therapy education encompasses shared philosophical and theoretical knowledge bases, values and beliefs, ethical standards, skills and broad application to practice.
The occupational therapy educational process prepares practitioners to function effectively in dynamic environments of a diverse and multicultural society.
- Adopted by the Representative Assembly April 1997
More specifically, it is the belief of this program that learning occurs most effectively when facts, concepts, and principles are learned didactically with supporting experiences in manipulating them. Thus, the learners must be active participants in the learning process. This will enable them to more effectively and more efficiently integrate the concepts and apply them in a clinical situation.
It is also the philosophy of this program that the learning of these skills occurs both in the classroom and in clinical experiences. Both didactic learning at the institutional level and experiential learning at the clinical level are actively utilized on-going throughout the program. This effort reflects the belief that the educational institution and the clinical sites function interdependently in the educational process.
Finally, it is the philosophy of this program that obtaining knowledge and skills is a developmental process. Thus, the individual students bring with them unique experiences upon which to develop OT skills. Also, the curriculum establishes a building process. There is a progression in terms of building a foundation, adding a framework and refining the concepts.
Curriculum Design:
The general basis for the selection of the content, scope and sequence of the curriculum is centered around the region, community, type of students in the program, and the health delivery system the graduates are expected to serve. The relevant characteristics of the region are that Cincinnati State Technical and Community College is the only OTA Program in this community. Reflecting the national trends in the field of occupational therapy, the graduate of the program may be likely to work in a non-traditional setting and under minimal direct supervision. Thus, they will have to have the ability to function independently.
Students in the OTA Program are placed in various service delivery models reflective of current practice in the profession and are encouraged to utilize a client-centered, occupation-based approach to practice. A variety of approaches are currently being used in the community including the Medical Model, Sensory Integration, and Client-Centered models. The emphasis of Sensory Integration is due to the fact that a SI theorist has resided in this community in the past and has functioned as trainer for some area therapy programs. This curriculum will incorporate SI practice.
The types of students that the program is likely to serve include both tradition and non-traditional college students. There will likely be a mixture of age, sex, cultural/ethnic backgrounds, prior academic experience, as well as a mixture of abilities (i.e., students with special physical, emotional, and mental needs). Thus, the curriculum reflects a variety of experiences designed to meet varied needs of the student group.
A second general basis for design of the curriculum is that of Human Development principles and Model of Human Occupation (MOHO). This information is addressed in general in the first two terms and then specifically in each subsequent term. The human being is looked upon as continually growing and developing from birth to death. As this occurs in normal development, quality of life is attained by development in the three areas of occupational performance: work, play-leisure, and self care. When disruption in development occurs, a balanced lifestyle in terms of occupational performance cannot be maintained. Subsequently, an individual experiences a decline in quality of life and/or health.
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The curriculum addresses normal development and principles of human occupation. It then addresses pathology/disruption in these two areas for each of four general age groups. The human being is viewed in a holistic manner and in terms of occupationally based quality of life following developmental disruption.
A third basis for organization of the curriculum is that of a developmental hierarchy of learning. "Bloom's Taxonomy" is utilized in curriculum course and session planning. Three domains of learning are considered: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Within each domain of learning, three progressive levels of complexity are incorporated: knowledge, application, and problem-solving.
The final basis for organization of the curriculum is that of the occupational therapy process. The Technical courses (i.e., core OT courses) are sequenced from general to specific to general. Basic information about the profession of occupational therapy is provided to the students first. That is, they receive an introduction to the profession and to basic treatment concepts and techniques. After that, they begin coursework directed towards four major areas: Infants-Children, Psychiatry, Adult Physical Dysfunction, and Gerontology/Non-Traditional Settings. Infants and Children is offered first. Psychiatry is selected second as an area of focus. Adult Physical Dysfunction and Gerontology/Non-Traditional Settings will then be presented. Finally, Term VII reverts to general courses that allow the student to integrate patient treatment knowledge and apply this to the practical aspect of the fundamentals of OT practice.
Each semester directed towards a major treatment area includes course content on concepts of treatment in that area, a lab regarding media utilized in intervention in the area, and finally, a Level I fieldwork placement in the related area. The students, therefore, receive didactic as well as clinical application experiences for each treatment group. It allows the student the opportunity to integrate information in the following way: conceptual information--practice intervention techniques in a lab--application content from both areas at a clinical setting. The combination of these three learning experiences should maximize efficient integration of the content.
CINCINNATISTATE TECHNICAL AND COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
General Educational Goals and Outcomes
Upon successful completion of the OTA curriculum, the student will be able to:
1.Function as an entry-level OTA according to standards established in the AOTA "Occupational Therapy Roles”.
2.Demonstrate professionalism by:
a.respecting patient's rights.
b.adhering to the AOTA"Code of Ethics".
c.abiding by local, state, and national guidelines.
d.advocating the importance of participation in professional development activities.
e.advocating the importance of participation in local, state, national professional organizations.
f.promoting the profession of Occupational Therapy.
g.advocating the importance of functioning as a team member.
h.recognizing own strengths and weaknesses.
i.recognizing need for and actively seeking supervision when indicated.
j.modifying behaviors in response to supervision
3.Perform department duties including:
a.follow policies and procedures including infection control.
b.participate in departmental meetings.
c.maintain daily treatment charges.
d.maintaining inventory of equipment and supplies.
e.follow safety and security procedures.
f.maintain records and files.
4.Contribute to the OT process by assisting with evaluation, intervention planning, intervention implementation/modification, and discharge plans towards outcome.
- Implement occupation-based interventions utilizing a client-centered approach to restore, develop, or prevent the deterioration of occupational performance.
- Obtain or construct equipment and/or orthotics, taking into consideration the importance of environmental context.
- Perform and have knowledge of the safe use of physical agent modalities such as use of hot and cold, TENS, and electrical stimulation.
Accredited Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
The Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, P.O. Box 31220, Bethesda, MD 20824-1220. AOTA's phone number is (301) 652-AOTA. Graduates of the program will be able to sit for the national certification examination for the Occupational Therapy Assistant administered by the National Certification Board of 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 result of the NBCOT Certification Examination. OTA students must complete Level II fieldwork within 20 months following completion of academic preparation.
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CincinnatiState Technical & Community College
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
Curriculum Design
Level II Fieldwork4660 & 4661 / Spring, Summer, Early Fall
2nd year
ALSO
“General” Courses
English
Psychology
Sociology
Human Diversity / Survey of
Therapeutic Media 4625 / OT Fundamentals
of Practice
4631 / Winter Term
2nd year
Concepts & Skills
4614 / Geriatrics Lab
4624 / Level I Fieldwork
4653 / Late Fall Term
2nd year
Geriatrics
“Basic Science” Courses
Anatomy & Physiology
Human Disease / Concepts & Skills
4613
Orthotics and PAMs
4636 / Phys Dys Lab
4623 / Kinesiology
4633 / Early Fall Term
2nd year
Physical Dysfunction
OFF! / Summer Term
Concepts & Skills
4611 / Psychosocial Lab
4621 / Level I Fieldwork
4651 / Spring Term
1st year
Psychosocial
Concepts & Skills
4612 / Pediatrics Lab
4622 / Level I Fieldwork
4652 / Winter Term
1st year
Infants & Children
Theory of OT
4610 / Techniques of OT
4620 / Late Fall
1st year
Introduction to OTA
4600 / Fundamentals of Crafts
4601 / Early Fall Term 1st year
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CINCINNATISTATE TECHNICAL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
Program Curriculum
The curriculum for the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program is written to span all five terms of the academic year for 2 consecutive years. It is possible, however, to arrange your schedule to take the Summer Term off between the first and second year of the program. You may take the other courses listed for the fifth term earlier in the curriculum as long as you meet prerequisite requirements and have all academic coursework completed prior to going out on Level II Fieldwork.
The OTA courses cannot be taken out of sequence, no exceptions!
CINCINNATISTATE TECHNICAL & COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Occupational Therapy Assistant Program
OTA Program Policies
Attendance
Students are expected to attend all lecture, lab and fieldwork class sessions. However, it is understood that extreme circumstances may occasionally prevent a student from attending. A student must notify their instructor that they are going to be absent before the scheduled class session. Failure to do so results in a deduction of 5 points for each occurrence. Each situation will be evaluated individually.