Occupational therapy assistant program coming to SFCC

The science and allied health options at State Fair Community College will expand next year.

The college will add an occupational therapy assistant program that will begin next fall, pending state approval.

The school is one of three community colleges selected to provide the program in conjunction with the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Brent Bates, vice president for educational services, said the program will take eight to 12 students, and came about through the Missouri Health Professions Consortium.

“The idea is to originate the programming from the University of Missouri Columbia and deliver it through interactive television, or ITV, for the community colleges. So then the students at State Fair Community College will do their lab work at State Fair Community College and do their clinical experience in the community,” he said.

Students in the profession work with occupational therapists to help patients with mental, physical, emotional, or developmental impairments so patients can perform daily activities.

Terri Ballard, spokeswoman for Bothwell Regional Health Center, said the hospital has an open position for an occupational therapy assistant.

Those in the profession are in demand, and work at hospitals, nursing homes, and other rehabilitation facilities. Ballard said, “Anything in rehab is a very in-demand job. That's why we're very excited about the program."

The salary range for an occupational therapy assistant is $37,500 to $40,000 per year, she said.

Students with a degree through the program can then finish with a bachelor of allied health degree at MU, which also offers a master’s degree program in occupational therapy.

The college also plans to eventually add a physical therapy assistant program through the consortium.

The instructors, fieldwork directors and program directors will be hired by the consortium, while lab instructors will be hired locally. The arrangement offers a way for the community colleges to offer what would be an expensive program in a cheaper way, Bates said.

“It’s really our higher educational system working at its best,” he said. “It would have been more difficult to do either of these programs by ourselves.”

Students will complete their general education requirements during their first year at the school, then will apply to the program for their second year. Students can work on prerequisites now, Bates said, then apply in the spring.

“It’s a selective admissions process,” he said. “We expect there will be more applicants than seats in the program.”