Next Stop: Certifications/Exams/Licensure

If you didn’t already know this, becoming an occupational therapist (OT) is hard work. Not only do you have to choose a school, but you also have to make sure you have the right certifications and tests/exams. Creating a list of these certifications and scheduling these tests are a couple of important steps towards becoming a successful OT.

    The AOTA (American Occupational Therapy Association) suggests that these are the nine certification areas that will help you stand out from other OTs in the field and will help your career development.

The following four are board certification areas:

• Gerontology (BCG)
• Mental Health (BCMH)
• Pediatrics (BCP)
• Physical Rehabilitation (BCPR)

The following five are specialty certification areas:

• School Systems (SCSS or SCSS-A)
• Low Vision (SCLV or SCLV-A)
• Feeding, Eating, and Swallowing (SCFES or SCFES-A)
• Environmental Modification (SCEM or SCEM-A)
• Driving and Community Mobility (SCDCM or SCDCM-A)

The basic certifications that you’ll need while going through your desired OT program will be CPR & Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS). So, let me break this down for you. CPR and BCLS are certifications that you need while BECOMING an occupational therapist. The nine certification areas I listed above are what you should obtain AFTER you become an OT, but you need to make sure you do your research on them, because it will help you so much more in the long run. Since this field is so competitive, anything you can take or obtain to set you apart from the others is a MUST!

    Now let’s talk about choosing the appropriate OT program. Now days, any OT program is a master’s degree. So while you are working on your master’s degree, or even before, it would be smart to prepare yourself for all of these certifications once you become a licensed occupational therapist. Not all OT programs are the same, as I discussed on my previous blog post. The length of an OT program varies from 2 to 3 years depending on the school. Most programs are 5 semesters that include plenty of clinical experiences and labs. Just in case you need help searching for credible schools and programs, this website provides many great occupational therapy schools from all around to choose from and do some digging.  

    Once you have graduated with your master’s degree in occupational therapy, passing the NBCOT exam is required to become a licensed occupational therapist. If you fail the exam, you have to wait forty-five days to retake the exam. But don’t worry, you should be fully prepared to take this exam! That is the whole point of spending all of that money on your degree. The paper application is $540 and the online application is $500.

    Your last step in this process is to find the requirements to  becoming a licensed occupational therapist in your state. There are different requirements for every state, so you’ll have to do the research for whatever state you are in. Most require a background check, your transcripts, and your NBCOT exam results. Since I am in Texas and don’t plan on living anywhere else, I’m going to provide a chart of the requirements for the state of Texas. This chart not only gives the Texas requirements, but also other states as well. Just in case some of you aren’t all Texas girls like me!