Physical & Occupational Therapy Assistant
What Occupational Therapists Do
Occupational therapists treat patients who have injuries, illnesses, or disabilities through the therapeutic use of everyday activities.
About half of occupational therapists work in offices of occupational therapy or in hospitals. Others work in schools, nursing homes, and home health services. Therapists may spend a lot of time on their feet while working with patients.
Training Programs at SLCC
SLCC Occupational Therapy Assistant AAS
86 Credits
Occupational Therapy is a health profession that provides services to children and adults of all ages whose lives have been disrupted by physical injury or illness, developmental problems, the aging process and/or psychosocial dysfunction. Occupational Therapy Assistants use occupation and purposeful activity with clients/patients to help them reach their maximum level of independence.
Specific tasks may include daily living skill training, fabrication of adaptive equipment, leading individual and group treatment activities, adapting home environments, ADA architectural accessibility standards, enabling computer access for the disabled, cognitive retraining, improving development of gross/fine motor skills and activities that enhance quality of life. Graduates will receive an Associate of Applied Science degree after successful completion of academic and fieldwork experiences.
SLCC Physical Therapy Assistant AAS
74 credits + prerequisites
The Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) Program provides both general and technical education. The Program is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE).
The Program consists of four semesters of physical therapist assistant coursework and skill-based instruction in addition to several selected prerequisite courses. Upon successful completion, graduates are awarded an associate of applied science degree. Graduates are able to sit for the National Examination for Physical Therapy Education (NPTE), which allows the individual to be eligible for licensure. To practice as a physical therapist assistant in Utah, licensure is required.