THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190504
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 30 lines
Tidewater Community College won state approval Thursday to begin a new program for occupational therapist assistants.
If TCC also gets the backing of the American Occupational Therapy Association, it will start offering the program in January, said Linda Rice, division chair of health science technologies at TCC's Virginia Beach campus.
She said there is wide demand for assistants to occupational therapists.
Only one other community college in the state offers the program - J. Sargeant Reynolds in Richmond - and it has sizeable waiting lists, Rice said.
Assistants help occupational therapists design treatment plans for patients, evaluate their progress and decide what type of equipment they need, Rice said. The average entry-level salary is $25,425, she said.
The ``certificate'' program would require 46 credit hours of study over three semesters, Rice said. But graduates could continue on for an associate's degree at TCC.
The program, which would be offered only at the Virginia Beach campus, would cost the college less than $90,000 to put in place, Rice said.
The program was approved by the State Board for Community Colleges in Richmond. The board also endorsed a new associate's degree program in industrial production and safety at Paul D. Camp Community College.
Because Paul D. Camp is seeking a full-fledged degree program in that field, it must also win approval from the State Council of Higher Education. by CNB