Pre-requisites, Essential Functions, and Disqualifying Factors

The OTA program has pre-requisites and co-requirements. It is highly recommended that all pre-requisites and co-requisites be completed prior to submitting your application in order to recieve higher points received.

  • Pre-requisite changes 2024
  • As a reminder all courses must be passed with a 75% and your cumulative a 2.5
  • Students must possess abilities to provide safe high quality care and treatment for their patients.
  • View Essential Functions for the Student

The OTA program complies with Clinical Northwest Passport requirements for fieldwork. Each fieldwork may or may not have additional requirements. These requirements include but NOT limited to Covid vaccination, Hep b, MMR, Flu vaccination and others.

Disqualifying Factors

Certain criminal convictions, pending charges, and negative actions automatically disqualify a person from having unsupervised access to vulnerable adults, juveniles and children.

As part of the admission requirement to the OTA program, applicants must successfully pass a criminal background check. Immediate disqualifiers to the program can be found at DSHS Secretary's list of Crimes and Negative actions (add link) you will need to check option 1 (Aging and Long term Support Administration) and option 2 (Children's administration).

In addition, individual clinical sites may have additional disqualifiers that would prevent a student from fulfilling their clinical rotation requirement. Alternate clinical rotation agreements will not be made.

Note that a felony conviction may affect a student's ability to be placed in fieldwork site which is required to complete the requirements of the degree and affect the graduate's ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain licensure. Students must complete Level II fieldwork within 18 months following completion of the didactic portion of the program.

Graduates will be eligible for the national certification examination for the occupational therapy assistant administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this examination, the graduate will be a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). Access the following sites for additional information: