Associate Degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant

The Occupational Therapy Assistant Associate Degree at Huertas College is an academic program that prepares students to serve as Occupational Therapy Assistants. This program aspires to graduate health allied professionals of the highest quality following the standards of practice of the profession in the different areas of competence to enable them to exercise the profession successfully in different work scenarios. In its educational philosophy the program incorporates the importance of the occupation and the potential of the of everyday living activities to promote health and well-being. The program is based on the science of human behavior and incorporates in its curriculum scientific and clinical evidence based practices. The Occupational Therapy Assistant restores, supports, and modifies the environment to reinsert the individual with physical or emotional challenges into everyday life. The Occupational Therapy Assistant intervenes in all areas of occupational performance through the implementation of treatment plans under the supervision of an Occupational Therapist. All graduates of the program must take and approve licensing examination established by law to work as an Occupational Therapy Assistant in Puerto Rico. They must submit to the Board of Examiners of Occupational Therapy the diploma or graduation certificate, an official transcript of credits, and Criminal Background Certificate from the Puerto Rico Police Department.

"The conviction for a serious crime may be an impediment to request a board certification examination or obtain the license issued by the Examining Board in P.R or U.S.”

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, 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.

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.

Students admitted to the program will be able to take the National Board Examination of the US, otherwise they may take the Puerto Rico Board examination (http://www.gobierno.pr). Address: GM Group 3er.floor; Urb. Caribe1590, Ponce de León St., Río Piedras, PR. Tel: (787) 999-8989, ORCPS 765.2929 Ext. 6530, 6637, JLDM 765.2929 Ext. 3467, 6640, 6550

The NBCOT pass rates can be found at: https://secure.nbcot.org/data/schoolstats.aspx. If you have any question regarding the National Board certification exam, please contact NBCOT at: National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. 12 South Summit Ave. Suite 100 Gaithersburg, MD 20877. (http://www.nbcot.org)