Accreditation
The entry-level occupational therapy doctoral degree program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA), located at 4720 Montgomery Lane, Suite 200, Bethesda, MD 20814-3449. ACOTE's telephone number c/o AOTA is (301) 652-AOTA and its Web address is www.acoteonline.org.
Graduates of the program will be eligible to sit for the national certification examination for the occupational therapist administered by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT). After successful completion of this exam, the individual will be an Occupational Therapist, Registered (OTR). In addition, all states require licensure in order to practice; however, state licenses are usually based on the results of the NBCOT Certification Examination. Note that a felony conviction may affect a graduate's ability to sit for the NBCOT certification examination or attain state licensure.
Licensure
A license is required for the practice of OT in most states and
other governmental units (e.g. the District of Columbia). Licensure
laws vary from state to state and you should check the states in
which you want to practice for their requirements. All licensing
bodies in the United States require that you pass the National
Board of Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT, see below)
exam to be able to obtain a full license.
Individuals with certain types of criminal records (felonies)
may be barred from practicing occupational therapy at the national
or state level. Individuals with criminal records should contact NBCOT (One Bank Street, Suite 300,
Gaithersburg, MD 20878; (301) 990-7979) and the occupational
therapy licensing board of the state where they would like to
practice prior to applying for admission to any OT program. These
organizations will perform early evaluations of the individual
criminal record to determine appropriateness for professional
practice.
Our regional licensing bodies include:
floridasoccupationaltherapy.gov
National Board For Certification in Occupational
Therapy
NBCOT is responsible for the initial certification of
occupational therapy practitioners. Graduates of accredited
occupational therapy programs (including Gannon's) are eligible to
take the NBCOT Exam.
Information concerning the pass rates for the NBCOT Exam by
Gannon graduates may be obtained directly from NBCOT at https://secure.nbcot.org/data/schoolstats.aspx.