Promising healthcare career training
Certified occupational therapy assistants help people of all ages gain skills needed to take part in meaningful daily activities. EHOVE’S currently operates an Adult Education program in this field, which is designed to prepare students to provide occupational therapy treatments and related tasks under the supervision of a Registered Occupational Therapist. The program is located at EHOVE Career Center, but has a degree partnership with LCCC.
Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant Program Instructor Barb Haase, is excited about all the emails she receives daily about potential job openings for students currently enrolled in the program. “The outlook for jobs is very good, “ said Haase.
According to the State of Ohio statistics, this program is a growing field, where they predict a 30 % growth increase in employment by the year 2018. “This is due to the baby boomers,” said Haase.
The program takes about 18 months to complete, and is one of the many several Adult Education Programs offered at EHOVE. “Occupational Therapy Assistants can work in hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation facilities, long-term care facilities, schools and home health,” she said.
This program focuses on ADL (Activity of Daily Living) where an Occupational Therapy Assistant will teach a patient independence in eating, cleaning, cooking, or whatever is needed to help patients achieve ADL. Assistants work on strengthening, cognition, sensory processing skills, and range of motions.
Occupational Therapy Assistant student Cindy Turton of Berlin Heights feels all the instructors involved in this program have a lot of knowledge to share and teach. “Our instructors have a ton of knowledge, and you can go in so many directions with this career,” said Turton.
Occupational Therapy Assistant student Susan Machovina of Huron is also impressed with the educators involved in this program. “Our educators are all Occupational Therapists, and they have a lot of years in occupational therapy,” said Machovina.
Students in the program expressed different thoughts on what excites them about what they are learning. “I like the idea about being able to apply for employment in the school systems and watching children progress and how children can apply it to their future,” said Turton.
“I look forward to the geriatric classes, as I have the passion and drive to work with senior citizens, “ said Machovina.
Machovina wants to pursue further schooling after her completion of this program. “I would like to work in a nursing home to start off, and continue my education in this field as an OTR,” she said. “The program’s skills and what we are learning are very good, diverse and informative. I look forward to applying my skills in the workforce.”
“I look forward to good employment and applying what I’ve learned after graduation, “ said Turton.
“EHOVE offers so many programs for adults, and their night time schedule of classes makes it very convenient. I think it’s a nice program that’s connected to LCCC, that we have access to those classes, which are transferable to future education, “ said Machovina.
Students in this program will soon be attending the National Conference, which begins April 26-29 in Indianapolis. “This is a great opportunity for students to see so many exhibits. There will be a lot of recruiters at the conference as well,” said Haase.
EHOVE offers a variety of adult education healthcare career training from certified occupational therapy assistant to nursing to patient care tech. To see all of the programs and get more information, go to www.EHOVE.net and click on the Adult Education section.
