May 30, 2022

Minnesota West offers the Occupational Therapy Assistant, A.A.S. program at our Worthington Campus

OTA Program

Minnesota West Community & Technical College - Worthington Campus, will welcome its first class of Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) students in May 2023. 

Occupational Therapy is a profession that enables people of all ages to live better with an injury, illness, or disability and promotes health and prevention. In September of 2022, our OTA program achieved candidacy status by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Our faculty are working hard to ensure that a quality OTA program and career path is available for the Southwest Minnesota area. Employers in the area have supported the development of an OTA program, and this opportunity will provide the resources and knowledge for student success.

ACOTE currently accredits or is in the process of accrediting nearly 600 occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant educational programs in the United States and its territories as well as programs in the United Kingdom. We applaud our OTA Program Director, Anna Sandager, and OTA Faculty, Amber Garcia, for their leadership and dedication and are excited to see the development of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. Dean of Allied Health Jackie Otkin said, “Congratulations to the program faculty for receiving candidacy status. Minnesota West has worked diligently over the past year to make this program a reality and to ensure that students in southwest Minnesota have the opportunity to learn in a state-of-the-art lab and innovative curriculum that leads to student success.”

The new OTA program will offer cohorts of 20 students an exciting career path to help people of all ages achieve increased independence. Program Director, Anna Sandager, states, “Being able to offer occupational therapy education in rural southwest Minnesota is an incredible opportunity to educate the next generation of practitioners in relevant and timely skills. These future practitioners can serve our community schools, hospitals, therapy clinics, and healthcare agencies in order to allow people of all ages to maintain, regain, or adapt important daily life skills.” Many resources regarding the OTA program are available on the Minnesota West OTA Faculty/Program webpage, including the admissions information: Occupational Therapy Assistant, A.A.S.

Our mission: "To provide students with the entry-level skills and service competencies to be professional, successful practitioners at providing individualized interventions across the lifespan."

Our Vision: "To broaden student knowledge and awareness of all individuals as occupational beings while enhancing the regional community’s access to excellent occupational therapy care."

The associate-degree-level occupational therapy assistant program 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 6116 Executive Boulevard, Suite 200, North Bethesda, MD 20852-4929. ACOTE’s telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its web address is www.acoteonline.org. The program must have a preaccreditation review, complete an on-site evaluation, and be granted Accreditation Status before its graduates 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). Students must complete 16 weeks of Level II fieldwork within 18 months following the completion of the didactic portion of the program. 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.