Health Professions: Occupational Therapy Assistant

Pre-admission requirements

• Each student must complete at least 30 hours of volunteer, paid work, or observation timeaccrued in at least 2 different Occupational Therapy practice settings. [details]
• Download the Clinical Experience Permission Form (pdf) (due at the time of application)
• Applications accepted through May 1 of each year to begin the Occupational Therapy Assistant program the Fall Semester of the year of application.
• Transcripts of courses already completed are required. Contact the Central Records Office at (757) 822-1900 to verify receipt of your transcripts.  

OTA Program Application

• Fill, save, and print the TCC Health Professions Application or
• Pick up an application at the Welcome & Admissions Center at the Virginia Beach Campus.

TCC Application (if not a TCC student yet)

• A TCC application may be obtained at any campus.
• Apply for admission to TCC online.
• Fill, print, and mail application.

Admission Decisions

• Limited number of applicants accepted.
  Positions in this program are limited, so program faculty are not able to interview or accept into the program all applicants who meet the basic admission requirements. 
• Ranking of applicants.
  Admissions decisions will be made on the applicant's ranking which considers academic record.  This policy is currently under review and subject to change. 
• Acceptance into OTA program.
  Those students who meet and/or exceed admission requirements will be contacted for a personal interview by the Program Director.

Clinical Experience

• Each student must complete at least 30 hours of volunteer, paid work, or observation time in an Occupational Therapy setting before he or she will be considered for admission to the Occupational Therapy Program. 
• This clinical experience time may be performed in one or more clinics, however a minimum of 8 hours must be spent in each clinical facility. 
• You may select any type of Occupational Therapy setting; however, it is recommended that you visit at least 2 different settings.
• Please remember that the Occupational Therapy Clinician's first responsibility is to the patients; therefore, there may be some delay in scheduling your observation times. 
• You should begin contacting clinics as soon as possible to avoid problems in completing the required number of hours. 
• Some clinics may have requirements for minimum number of volunteer hours which may be greater than 30 hours. 
• You will need to abide by the facility's policies for minimum hours, even though this program only requires 30 hours.
• A copy of the Clinical Experience Permission Form must be completed for each clinic you visit, including the signature of the Occupational Therapist or Occupational Therapy Assistant who supervised the visit(s), and submitted with your application before your application will be considered for admission and you are scheduled for a personal interview.

Outcome Data

• Total number of program graduates: 46
• NBCOT first-time test takes: 39
• NBCOT first-time test takers passed: 35
• NBCOT first-time test takers pass rate: 90.7%
• Retention rate in the OTA program: 80%
  Percentage derived from the number students accepted into the program and the number who successfully graduated between 2004 and 2007.
• Jobs after graduating.
  Between 2004 and 2007 all graduates who sought employment found jobs within one month of graduating the program.