Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and 33rd most populous of the 50 United States. Many renowned universities are there which provides quality education in the state of Arkansas. It has some fine quality universities like the University of Arkansas, the University of Central Arkansas, etc.
The Education Week magazine has praised the state, ranking Arkansas in the top 10 of their Quality Counts Education Rankings every year since 2009 while scoring it in the top 5 during 2012 and 2013.
Occupational therapy in Arkansas-
The demand is increasing for the occupational therapist in the state of Arkansas. And the job competition is less because the Arkansas state has only one OT college.
But, the state has 4 Occupational therapy assistant schools, so if the student wants to take admission in the occupational therapy domain, he/she can take admission in the OTA courses.
The number of working occupational therapist is not high, it may be because of the single OT school in the state. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 910 working licensed occupational therapists in May 2015, but the need is much more. Therefore the state of Arkansas has become a good opportunity for the occupational therapist from other states.
The occupational therapy in the Arkansas State has its own association, i.e. Arkansas Occupational Therapy Association (AROTA). The mission of the OT state association is to promote OT service quality and enhancing professional identity.
In Arkansas, Occupational Therapy is regulated by the Arkansas State Medical Board. The Arkansas State Medical Board takes the responsibility to issue licenses to the occupational therapist and occupational therapy assistants, which is provided soon after the passing NBCOT’s examination.
The occupational therapist and occupational therapist assistant in the state of Arkansas can practice for some time without a permanent license. YES! The OT and OTA can get a temporary permit from the Arkansas State Medical Board. But the condition is that the candidate must fulfill all the criteria of the permanent license holder except the NBCOT’s passing result.
But, the candidate must have a letter of eligibility to take the next available exam from the NBCOT. And after passing, he/she has to notify to the board to get a permanent one.
For licensure information, please contact:
Arkansas State Medical Board
1401 West Capitol Avenue, Suite 340
Little Rock, AR 72201-2936
https://www.armedicalboard.org/
Occupational Therapy School in Arkansas –
#1 College of Health and Behavioral Sciences- Department of Occupational therapy
This college is preparing occupational therapy practitioner, researcher, educators from more than three decades in the state of Arkansas. This college provides undergraduate and graduates degree program in health and behavioral sciences, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, and nursing.
This college is creating excellent health professional for the enhancement of health and well-being of the public.
The Occupational Therapy Program at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) has a long and prominent history. The program is continually accredited since 1974 by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE), this program has excellent pass rates on the National Board Certification for Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam and highly successful employment rates.
The Occupational Therapy program has two options-
- Entry-level Master degree in OT, which is accredited by the ACOTE.
- Recently, the School has applied for the entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program (OTD) to the ACOTE and it has been granted Candidacy Status by the ACOTE of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA).
The new OTD program is not yet accredited, but have completed the first steps in the 3-step initial accreditation process. The OTD Program having “Candidacy Status” successfully completed Step 1 of the initial accreditation process and the OT school may admit students into the program. But the students can’t appear the NBCOT examination until the program successfully complete the ACOTE accreditation.
| University of Central Arkansas- Occupational Therapy Program | |
|---|---|
| Courses Offered – |
|
| University Campus | Conway, AR |
| Public or Private- | Public Institute |
| Program Head | Jimmy H. Ishee, Dean |
| Course Duration- MOT | Full-time regular course duration- 3 years. |
| Seat capacity | Maximum 48 |
| OT Admission | Once a year fall semester. |
| Minimum requirement |
|
| Pre-requisite course work |
|
| Address | University of Central Arkansas Department of Occupational Therapy 201 Donaghey Avenue, PO Box 5001 Conway, AR 72035-0001 (501) 450-5017 [email protected] |
| Website | http://uca.edu/ot |
Occupational therapy salary in Arkansas-
According to the Bureau of labor statistics, the average annual and hourly income of occupational therapist were $82,600 and $39.71 (as per May 2015), respectively.
But the annual salary may vary, it may depend upon the practice setting, small or big city, need of therapy services.
According to Salary.com and Indeed.com, the average salary in Arkansas is $86,000 annually.
Average salary in different work settings-
| OT in acute care | $86,000 |
| OT in Hand rehab | $92,000 |
| OT in Home health | $94,000 |
| Rest of OT practice areas (Pediatric, mental health, outpatient, rehab, school) have an average salary of | $86,000 |
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