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Disability Services facilitates access to all programs and services according to the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, as well as other federal and state laws.
Amarillo College is committed to providing equal access to all programs and services, including all working, learning, and service environments that affect equal access for persons with disabilities. This commitment to provide equal access and opportunity for persons with disabilities is in compliance with federal and state law. Amarillo College also strives to provide Electronic and Information Resources (EIR) that are accessible to all authorized users.
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As a student you may experience a range of issues that can cause barriers to learning, such as strained relationships, increased anxiety, alcohol/drug problems, feeling down, difficulty concentrating and/or lack of motivation. These mental health concerns or stressful events may lead to diminished academic performance or reduce a student's ability to participate in daily activities. Amarillo College offers services to assist you with addressing these and other concerns you may be experiencing. If you or someone you know are suffering from any of the aforementioned conditions, you can learn more about the broad range of confidential mental health services available on campus by calling the AC Counseling Center at 806-371-5900. The AC Counseling Center website is https://www.actx.edu/counseling/ . Also, if you are in need of social services (affordable housing, utilities, transportation, food, clothing, childcare, medical/dental/vision, legal), please call the AC Advocacy & Resource Center at 806-371-5439. The AC Advocacy & Resource Center website is https://www.actx.edu/arc
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NOTE: Students who are attending Texas institutions of higher education, for the first time fall 2007 and later, may not withdraw from more than six courses during their academic career. This withdrawal limitation does not include dual credit or developmental classes (Senate Bill 1231 Rule 4.10.) For more information on Drop and Withdrawal Policies, please visit the Registrar's Office Web site.
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OTHA-2266-001 Practicum I - Occupational Therapy Assistant
Practical, general workplace training supported by an individualize plan developed by the employer, college and student.
Student ResourcesStudent Resources Website
Notice to Students enrolled in an educational program for preparation of issuance of certain occupational licenses:
Students enrolled in an educational program in preparation for obtaining certain occupational licenses are potentially ineligible for such license if the student has been convicted of an offense. For further information, please contact:
Melodie Graves
Justice Involved Advocate
Student Service Center 117
mgraves24@actx.edu
806-371-5995
Make appointment at https://melodiegraves.youcanbook.me
You can also contact the Legal Clinic, or the faculty member in charge of the educational program that you seek to enroll in. The further information you will receive will include notification to you of your right to request a criminal history evaluation letter from the licensing authority in order to clarify your particular situation.
(2 sem hrs; 20 clinic)
Clinical
The AC OTA student is encouraged to select readings daily from previously required texts which contribute to successful completion of the fieldwork experience(FW). In addition, the academic fieldwork coordinator(AFWC) at Amarillo College may suggest texts to the OTA student in response to phone or email contact in which the student seeks direction or clarification. The OTA student\'s fieldwork educator (FWE) at the clinical site may direct, suggest or advise certain texts or books for the student\'s success in fieldwork performance.
The student will dress in clothing stated as acceptable by the fieldwork site. Additional supplies may be required to complete assignments made by the fieldwork educator (FWE). The student is solely responsible for any and all costs associated with the fieldwork experience including transportation, housing, meals, required uniforms, additional immunizations or other clearances(security, fingerprinting, drug screening) or other requirements set forth by the college or fieldwork site.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Amarillo College OTAS will know they have met fieldwork requirements when they can successfully complete the fieldwork objectives of the facility. In addition, AC OTA students are expected at the end of OTHA 2266 to be functioning as nearly entry level practitioners.
Given appropriate supervision, orientation, and direction to the policies and procedures of the assigned setting, the AC OTA student will be able to do the following as evaluated by the fieldwork educator and interpreted by the academic fieldwork coordinator:
1. Adhere consistently to the AOTA Code of Ethics and site’s policies and procedures.
2. Adhere consistently to safety regulations. Anticipate potentially hazardous situations and take steps to prevent accidents.
3. Use sound judgment in regard to safety of self and others during all fieldwork-related activities.
4. Clearly communicate the values and beliefs of occupational therapy, highlighting the use of occupation to clients, families, significant others, and service providers.
5. Communicate the roles of the occupational therapist and the occupational therapy assistant to clients, families, significant others, and service providers.
6. Make informed practice decisions based on published research and relevant informational resources.
7. Under the supervision of and in cooperation with the occupational therapist and/or occupational therapy assistant, accurately gather relevant information regarding a client’s occupations of self care, productivity, leisure, and the factors that support and hinder occupational performance.
8. Establish service competency in assessment methods, including but not limited to interviews, observations, assessment tools, and chart reviews within the context of the service delivery setting.
9. Assist with interpreting assessments in relation to the client’s performance and goals in collaboration with the occupational therapist.
10. Report results accurately in a clear, concise manner that reflects the client’s status and goals.
11. Develop client-centered and occupation-based goals in collaboration with the occupational therapist.
12. In collaboration with the occupational therapist, establishes methods, duration and frequency of interventions that are client-centered and occupation-based. Intervention plans reflect context of setting.
13. Select and sequence relevant interventions that promote the client’s ability to engage in occupations.
14. Implement occupation-based interventions effectively in collaboration with clients, families, significant others, and service providers.
15. Grades activities to motivate and challenge clients in order to facilitate progress.
16. Effectively interact with clients to facilitate accomplishment of established goals.
17. Monitor the client’s status in order to update, change, or terminate the intervention plan in collaboration with the occupational therapist.
18. Clearly and effectively communicate verbally and nonverbally with clients, families, significant others, colleagues, service providers, and the public.
19. Produce clear and accurate documentation according to site requirements. All writing is legible, using proper spelling, punctuation and grammar.
20. Take responsibility for attaining professional competence by seeking out learning opportunities and interactions with supervisor/s and others.
21. Respond constructively to feedback
22. Demonstrate consistent work behaviors including initiative, preparedness, dependability, and work site maintenance.
23. Demonstrate effective time management.
24. Demonstrate positive interpersonal skills including but not limited to cooperation, flexibility, tact, and empathy.
25. Demonstrate respect for diversity factors of others including but not limited to socio-cultural, socio-economic, spiritual, and lifestyle choices.
ACOTE standards incorporated in this course through typical FW activities and provision of direct treatment: (effective July 31, 2021)
Demonstrate knowledge of scientific evidence as it relates to the importance of balancing areas of occupation; the role of occupation in the promotion of health; and the prevention of disease, illness, and dysfunction for persons, groups, and populations. (B.3.4.)
Demonstrate knowledge of the effects of disease processes including heritable diseases, genetic conditions, mental illness, disability, trauma, and injury on occupational performance. (B.3.5.)
Demonstrate sound judgment in regard to safety of self and others and adhere to safety regulations throughout the occupational therapy process as appropriate to the setting and scope of practice. This must include the ability to assess and monitor vital signs (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory status, and temperature) to ensure that the client is stable for intervention. (B.3.7.)
Demonstrate therapeutic use of self, including one’s personality, insights, perceptions, and judgments, as part of the therapeutic process in both individual and group interaction. (B.4.1.)
Demonstrate clinical reasoning to address occupation-based interventions, client factors, performance patterns, and performance skills. (B.4.2.)
Utilize clinical reasoning to facilitate occupation-based interventions that address client factors. This must include interventions focused on promotion, compensation, adaptation, and prevention. (B.4.3.)
Contribute to the evaluation process of client(s)’ occupational performance, including an occupational profile, by administering standardized and nonstandardized screenings and assessment tools and collaborating in the development of occupation-based intervention plans and strategies.
Explain the importance of using psychometrically sound assessment tools when considering client needs, and cultural and contextual factors to deliver evidencebased intervention plans and strategies.
Intervention plans and strategies must be client-centered, culturally relevant, reflective of current occupational therapy practice, and based on available evidence. (B.4.4.)
Under the direction of an occupational therapist, collect, organize, and report on data for evaluation of client outcomes. (B.4.6.)
Demonstrate an understanding of the intervention strategies that remediate and/or compensate for functional cognitive deficits, visual deficits, and psychosocial and behavioral health deficits that affect occupational performance. (B.4.9.)
Provide direct interventions and procedures to persons, groups, and populations to enhance safety, health and wellness, and performance in occupations. This must include the ability to select and deliver occupations and activities, preparatory methods and tasks (including therapeutic exercise), education and training, and advocacy. (B.4.10.)
Demonstrate knowledge of the use of technology in practice, which must include: * Electronic documentation systems * Virtual environments * Telehealth technology (B.4.15.)
Assess, grade, and modify the way persons, groups, and populations perform occupations and activities by adapting processes, modifying environments, and applying ergonomic principles to reflect the changing needs of the client, sociocultural context, and technological advances. (B.4.18.)
Demonstrate the principles of the teaching– learning process using educational methods and health literacy education approaches: * To design activities and clinical training for persons, groups, and populations. * To instruct and train the client, caregiver, family, significant others, and communities at the level of the audience. (B.4.21.)
Monitor and reassess, in collaboration with the client, caregiver, family, and significant others, the effect of occupational therapy intervention and the need for continued or modified intervention, and communicate the identified needs to the occupational therapist. (B.4.22.)
Identify occupational needs through effective communication with patients, families, communities, and members of the interprofessional team in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the promotion of health and wellness. (B.4.23.)
Demonstrate effective intraprofessional OT/OTA collaboration to explain the role of the occupational therapy assistant and occupational therapist in the screening and evaluation process. (B.4.24.)
Demonstrate awareness of the principles of interprofessional team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan, deliver, and evaluate patient- and population-centered care as well as population health programs and policies that are safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable. (B.4.25.)
Identify and communicate to the occupational therapist the need to refer to specialists both internal and external to the profession, including community agencies. (B.4.26.)
Implement a discharge plan from occupational therapy services that was developed by the occupational therapist in collaboration with the client and members of the interprofessional team by reviewing the needs of the client, caregiver, family, and significant others; available resources; and discharge environment. (B.4.28.)
Demonstrate knowledge of various reimbursement systems and funding mechanisms (e.g., federal, state, third party, private payer), treatment/diagnosis codes (e.g., CPT®, ICD, DSM® codes) and coding and documentation requirements that affect consumers and the practice of occupational therapy. Documentation must effectively communicate the need and rationale for occupational therapy services. (B.4.29.)
Identify and explain the contextual factors; current policy issues; and socioeconomic, political, geographic, and demographic factors on the delivery of occupational therapy services for persons, groups, and populations and social systems as they relate to the practice of occupational therapy. (B.5.1.)
Participate in the documentation of ongoing processes for quality management and improvement (e.g., outcome studies analysis and client engagement surveys) and implement program changes as needed to demonstrate quality of services. (B.5.7.)
Define strategies for effective, competency-based legal and ethical supervision of occupational therapy assistants and non-occupational therapy personnel. (B.5.8.)
Locate and demonstrate understanding of professional literature, including the quality of the source of information, to make evidence-based practice decisions in collaboration with the occupational therapist. Explain how scholarly activities and literature contribute to the development of the profession. (B.6.1.)
Promote occupational therapy by educating other professionals, service providers, consumers, third-party payers, regulatory bodies, and the public. (B.7.3.)
Consistency with and connection to curriculum:
Fieldwork I and II are capstone courses in the OTA curriculum at Amarillo College. These courses emphasize entry level preparation based on all prior courses. Again, the approach is knowledge of the profession first, knowledge of self second and finally therapeutic use of self. The Workplace Skills course specifically addresses the program goal of developing lifelong learners. Students are responsible for identifying continuing education courses to fulfill their first license renewal period after graduation. The students also develop a plan to continue NBCOT certification through a variety of options as allowed by NBCOT. Students are encouraged to attend annual professional continuing education courses offered by Amarillo College. The college routinely offers workshops directly related to the OTA practitioner and the last three courses addressed patients with dementia, exercise in elderly populations and mobility across the lifespan.
In order to receive your AC Connect Email, you must log in through AC Connect at https://acconnect.actx.edu .
If you are an active staff or faculty member according to Human Resources, use "Exchange". All other students, use "AC Connect (Google) Email".
AC's OTA student will submit the required paperwork prior to the end of the semester in order to have a grade posted for this course.
Overall performance of an AC OTA student will be evaluated by the fieldwork supervisor using the "Fieldwork Performance Evaluation for the OTA Student” as provided to the site by the student. An overall fieldwork experience score is determined by the fieldwork supervisor using the "Fieldwork Performance Evaluation for the OTA Student.” This tool allows for grading of the OTA student from a low of 1 to a high of 4 on 25 items. This means that the range of total scores available is 25 to 100 points. The tool specifies that a score of 70 must be obtained to pass the fieldwork experience. The following grading scale is a guideline for assigning course grades to the OTA student.
88-100 points = A
78-87 points = B
70-77 points = C
below 70 points = F
Moreover, the academic fieldwork coordinator at AC may seek clarification of the student's performance and revision to the score contributing to the grade to be assigned in this course through communication with the fieldwork educator.
OTA students are required to complete an assessment of the site and provide the original to the academic fieldwork coordinator of Amarillo College. OTA students must complete the "Student Evaluation of Fieldwork Experience" form following the fieldwork experience to receive a final course grade. The course grade is required for successful completion of the occupational therapy curriculum and graduation.This form is to be submitted by direct mail to OTA Program, POB 447, Amarillo College, Amarillo, Texas 79178 on the last day of fieldwork OR delivered to the OTA program via student drop box on the West campus in the Allied Health Building. Grades for fieldwork will not be submitted for any AC student who fails to submit this paperwork. A grade of “Incomplete” will be posted to the student's transcript until this documentation is submitted within 72 hours of the end of fieldwork. After 72 hours without submission, the “Incomplete” grade will revert to an “F.” The student has the sole responsibility of submitting forms in a timely manner.
The focus of the experience varies, depending on the facility and the fieldwork educator. The OTA student will be required to fully participate in a regular work week at the site in which they are placed. For some sites, this will be a traditional 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday work week. For other sites, a nontraditional or alternate schedule is routine. Each AC OTA student will comply with the schedule as established by the fieldwork educator. The student is to attend fieldwork on all days expected by the FWE. If the facility is closed and the college is open, the student has no responsibility to be at the fieldwork site. If the college is closed for weather, holiday or any other reason, and the fieldwork site is not closed, the student is expected to attend fieldwork. If a student misses a scheduled day of fieldwork for any reason, both the FWE and Amarillo College's academic fieldwork coordinator (AFWC) must be notified.
The expectation of Amarillo College's academic fieldwork coordinator (AFWC) is that each OTA student strive to make the most of the opportunity to practice their preferred profession under the supervision of a licensed OT practitioner. Achieving the greatest benefit from fieldwork includes attending the 7 to 9 week experience 100% of the days assigned to a facility for the full time each day. If the site does not provide a minimum of 35 hours of experience per week, an AC OTA student should discuss the requirement with the onsite FWE immediately. If the OTA student does not achieve resolution with the FWE, the student should contact AC's AFWC for support in resolving the situation.
If an AC student deems unreasonable demands are being suggested, the student will seek first to resolve the situation with the FWE. In the event that resolution is not reached between AC's OTA student and the FWE, the AFWC will be notified by the learner. The AC OTA student, affiliated facility representative and Amarillo College representatives will work collectively to resolve the issue.
Full Time Clinical Experience
Additional information may be found in the OTA fieldwork handbook related to the year and semester the student is enrolled in fieldwork.
Report grievance in the following order: instructor, program director, Associate Dean of Health Sciences Kim Boyd 354-6060, Dean of Health Sciences Kim Crowley 354-6087, Associate VP of Academic Services Becky Burton 371-5122, and VP of Academic Affairs Dr. Tamara Clunis 371-5226.
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