The occupational therapy profession's indecisive step toward its Centennial Anniversary

The Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education released an unexpected set of decisions last week.In sum, the two decisions promote the concept of dual entry levels for OTA education and dual entry levels for OT education.  The OTA dual entry (associates and baccalaureate) is an entirely new concept while the OT dual entry (masters and doctoral) follows a year-long debate on whether or not the profession should adopt the doctoral level as a single point of entry.The reason why each of these decisions was surprising is because they contradicted the publicized opinions of the American Occupational Therapy Association, the member group for the profession.As such the 'problem' with the decisions doesn't rest with ACOTE alone, but rather represents a community of professionals that are at odds with themselves and unsure of how to move toward the future. +++Regarding OTA education, an Ad Hoc Committee of AOTA looked at the complex issues surrounding OTA education and came up with three recommendations.  Those recommendations were:1. Keep OTA education at the associate level2. Have only one level of degree entry for OTAs3. Articulate strategies to succeed if the association ever decides to transition to a higher degree level for OTAs.The reports states that "While there may be some benefits to the two entry-level-degree model, they do not  outweigh the inconsistencies created when  there are  two different degree levels qualifying  graduat...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - Category: Occupational Health Tags: OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs