Why study Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) at CCC
Occupational Therapy changes lives!
Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants work in collaboration to support patients and clients in their ability to engage in activities that matter and speak to the individuals’ unique self for improved health and wellness, living a self-directed life, and reaching one’s maximum potential. Occupational therapy practitioners are licensed health care professionals that facilitate participation in everyday living (AOTA, 2020) with the use of meaningful and therapeutic activities to help individuals to do the things that they need and want to do at all stages of their lifespan. Occupational Therapy is an evidence-based and science-driven profession focused on the implementation of best practices grounded in research.
An Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) is a practitioner that works to help individuals to increase independence with activities of daily living. OTA’s work to facilitate problem-solving, strength, and coordination in the process of recovery from illness, injury, or disability to help individuals develop skills they don’t have or to recover skills that have been lost. Occupational Therapy Assistants work directly with patients on a consistent basis and follow treatment plans under the direction of the supervising Occupational Therapist.
Occupational Therapy Assistants implement treatment plans and design interventions to address patient and client goals. Interventions commonly used by an OTA include helping people recovering from illness or injury to regain function through retraining and/or adaptations, providing support for older adults experiencing physical and cognitive changes, helping children with disabilities to participate fully in school and home, as well as addressing psychosocial needs to foster hope, motivation, and empowerment.
Our Mission & Philosophy:
The Clovis Community College OTA program is focused on providing a quality educational program that values the uniqueness of all human beings and produces competent, professional entry-level occupational therapy assistants to serve the diverse populations and settings within Fresno/Clovis, the central San Joaquin Valley, the state of California and the nation. It is also the charge of the OTA Program to encourage students to be stellar professionals and life-long learners.
Mission
Creating Occupational Independence – One practitioner at a time
We strive to provide exceptional academic education including experiential learning opportunities and embedded fieldwork experiences to prepare future practitioners with the necessary knowledge and skills to support people in living meaningful and fulfilling lives.
- We foster our students’ critical thinking, innovative learning, and engagement in effective clinical reasoning.
- We embrace the diversity of our students and our community while focusing on the individual to develop client-centered interventions grounded in meaningful occupation.
- We cultivate community healthfulness through partnerships with local organizations within our community to enhance student learning and success.
- We promote lifelong learning and professionalism to meet the needs of a growing self, a dynamic profession, and an ever-changing society.
The philosophy of the Clovis Community College OTA program embraces the fundamentals of human occupation with the belief that we as humans are dynamic and complex beings and for whom engagement and activity provide meaning to each unique individual. The Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) Model is foundational to the OTA program. Using the PEO model, it is recognized that each individual brings forth their own distinctive set of experiences and intrinsic motivators that are impacted by society, culture, attitudinal position, and environment is interwoven within a continuous cycle of response, growth, and adaptation. Through this lens, it is recognized that each student brings their individual attributes (strengths) and multi-faceted dynamics to engage in learning with each other, within their environments, and within the future profession of occupational therapy assisting.
Approach to Learning and Instruction
The profession of occupational therapy is dynamic and fluid to meet the individual needs of our clients while substantiated with science, research, and evidence to support and guide our practices whilst grounded in the use of meaningful occupation. We believe in educating students to become innovative, client-centered, forward-thinking, and flexible practitioners. Students will be challenged to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills to address healthcare needs on an individual, local/community, and societal level. We strongly believe that each student brings a rich fabric of experiences, beliefs, values, strengths, and styles to the interactive learning experiences upon which to draw. We aim to cultivate each individual student’s strengths and talents to maximize the development of their unique self on their professional journey.