The American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) supports new guidelines from the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) that will expand and clarify rules for internationally-prepared therapists to be eligible for entry-level certification as occupational therapists in the United States.

"AOTA applauds the NBCOT Board of Directors for approving these important clarifications to the eligibility criteria for candidates for initial certification," said AOTA President Carolyn Baum, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA. The new guidelines take effect January 1, 2007.

"Our internationally-educated colleagues now have two categories to meet NBCOT's academic preparation requirement," added Dr. Baum. "This is critically important, as all occupational therapy programs in the United States accredited by the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) will transition to awarding postbaccalaureate degrees by January 1, 2007."

The new academic preparation eligibility requirement provides internationally-educated therapists two options for approval of their training programs. Occupational therapists must either graduate from an occupational therapy educational program recognized by NBCOTat the postbaccalaureate degree level, orgraduate from an accredited occupational therapy educational program recognized by NBCOTand present evidence of educational preparation that is determined to be equivalent to American occupational therapy educational standards. NBCOT recognizes occupational therapy educational programs accredited by ACOTE or the Accreditation Committee of the World Federation of Occupational Therapists (WFOT).

Additional information about the eligibility criteria for OTR candidates is available on NBCOT's Web site at nbcot.

American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)