COTA vs OTA

Caffeine is a good thing! Diet Coke every morning, with aspartame as a carcinogenic, maybe not so much. I am beat this morning. Serves me right for a late night, I suppose.

I am boggling this AM over occupational therapy assistants. They don't get any training over here! Prior to getting the job I mean, they do get training on the job. But they don't have to have a degree, they don't have to be certified, they don't even have to be registered. Annette was telling me she saw an advert in the paper, and just applied for the job. Hell, we spent lord knows how many classes just trying to come up with a good definition for OT during our Tufts program, how on earth are people reading the job section in the paper going to know what occupational therapy is all about?! OT assistants in the US must complete a two-year program, and take the certification exam which gives them that all important C (COTA), before they can get a license to practice. At our dept meeting last Wednesday, Barbara was telling all the OTAs that since we're slow at the moment, they should use the extra time to do treatments with patients, practice transfers, etc. Am I just being ridiculous to think that treatment should be left to the qualified OTs over here?!!