OTA Program Overview

What is Occupational Therapy?

Occupational therapy practitioners use goal-specific activities to help people of all ages prevent, lessen, or overcome disabilities. Those who work in occupational therapy use their personal and professional skills to help people deal with health problems that interfere with their ability to function in daily life.

Occupational therapists are important members of the health-care team working closely with physicians; psychologists; nurses; and physical, speech, and recreational therapists. Career opportunities abound in hospitals, public and private schools, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes, and home health programs. Experienced therapists may also become private practitioners or choose to work in business and industrial settings.

Occupational therapists work in mental health, pediatrics, gerontology, physical disabilities, and many other areas. By gaining additional skills and training, they are able to practice in specialized areas such as hand rehabilitation, drug and alcohol abuse, and vocational rehabilitation. In addition to clinical practice, occupational therapists may choose to become involved in administration, education, or research. Occupational therapy is a varied, interesting, and rewarding career.

Touro College offers two different Occupational Therapy Programs:

• B.S./M.S. - Occupational Therapy (OTR)
• A.A.S. - Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA).

A.A.S. degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant

This program is a two-year, EVENING program leading to an Associates of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant. Classes are held at the Main Campus in New York. The program begins in the Fall of each year and is presented in five sequential academic semesters (including mandatory summer classes). Fieldwork is incorporated by way of 5 day time visits during semesters three and four and two full-time, day time, clinical affiliations upon completion of academic classroom requirements.

Occupational Therapy Program Mission

It is an essential belief of Occupational Therapy that humankind actively engages in meaningful occupation. Occupational Therapy strives to enable clients to develop creative and adaptive skills to master life roles and environmental challenges. This process occurs through involvement and participation in goal-directed, purposeful activities or occupations appropriate to one’s age and ethnicity, and sociocultural context. Talmudic scholars see creativity, mastery, and adaptation as essential expressions of our humanness (Lander, 1990).

The mission of the Occupational Therapy Program at Touro College is to foster and guide the development of our students into professionals who will practice in keeping with the humanistic and ethical values and the humanistic, occupation-centered tenets of the profession. We aspire to prepare professionals to use their skills within the diverse scope of occupational therapy to shape and enhance the ability of persons of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to engage and participate in areas of occupation. The obligation to contribute to society is inherent in both the Mission of the College and the history of the profession. This requires the development of leadership and skills for advocacy and to facilitate the empowerment of individuals accessing our services.

Educational Philosophy

The role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program at Touro College is to facilitate student development of their own personal and professional systems for integrating the tenants of occupational therapy service provision. Servicing individuals, families and communities in diverse contexts require a foundation of diversity competence and experience as a recipient of interactions based on these principles.

The ability to learn is facilitated by many didactic and interactive experiences that enable the student to fully develop a professional persona consistent with the domain of occupational therapy and the role of the Occupational Therapy Assistant in the delivery care system.

We believe that excellence, accountability, and innovation in our teaching methods reflect a commitment to continued learning on the part of both faculty and students. We recognize the need not only to transmit ideas, theories, frames of reference, models of practice, and intervention strategies, but also to participate in the development and exploration of new ideas at the leading edge of health care. Accordingly, we encourage continuous personal responsibility for learning, scholarly activity, inquiry and reflective dialogue among our faculty and students which represents a commitment to professional development.

Class Scheduling

Students completing the Program are eligible for an AAS degree in Occupational Therapy Assistant. Classes are scheduled to accommodate the special needs of students who observe a Sabbath. While the calendar also allows for observance of Jewish religious holidays, students and faculty are enrolled and employed without regard to race, color, creed, sex, age, disabling conditions and national origin.

PLEASE SEE THE SCHOOL CALENDAR AND SEMESTER SCHEDULES FOR A CURRENT LISTING OF SCHEDULED HOLIDAYS AND SCHOOL CLOSING.