As an occupational therapist (OT) or occupational therapy assistant (OTA), you are required to maintain your level of continued education units (CEUs) every year to keep your professional licensing effective.
Attending conferences, and events can provide great networking opportunities. But, the Internet provides many online OT and OTA continuing education courses that make it far more convenient.
How Many CEUs for Occupational Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants?
According to the Office of the Professions, New York State licensing requires that you maintain a minimum of 36 contact hours of approved continuing education in each three-year renewal period.
This equates to 3.6 CEUs over 3 years, with 0.1 CEU equal to one competence/ certification hour. Since many continuing education courses are 0.1 CEUs, this equals roughly 12 hours per year.
Continuing Education for Occupational Therapists: Online Course Options
The American Occupational Therapy Association has courses with CEUs valued at an average $60 per course, or more in depth courses worth 4.5-6 CEUs valued at an average $600 per course.
OT Courses.com provides a wide range of courses across various topics from assistive technology, clinical medicine, documentation and government regulation, ethics, geriatrics, home health, orthopedics, pediatrics, neuro rehab, pharmacology, vision rehab, and more. The courses can be taken online, via email or as an eBook. The courses range from $50-$250+ and you can check each course has your state approval, though majority are covered for the New York State area.
Occupational Therapy.com provides a yearly subscription for just $99 and they give you access to 400+ continued education courses, which is really great value. The courses are delivered by experts and offered in multiple formats: live webinar, recorded, text/transcript, and audio. To obtain your CEUs, you take an online exam at completion of any of the courses and get a certificate for participation.
Continuing Education.com offers courses starting at $15 upwards, depending which course you take.
Your Therapy Source.com also has a range of courses and offers a large range of free activities, handouts and information sheets you can download.
You can also find some free continuing education courses worth 0.5-2 CEUs over here at FreeCME4Me.
Here are a few more places online to explore courses:
As you can see, there are a large range of options available to complete your CEUs, all from the comfort of home!
Out of all these options, Occupational Therapy.com does seem to be the best value because you have access to all their 400+ courses for one whole year, which makes it more convenient for you to accomplish courses when you have time. And for $99, it seems to be the best value for money, too.
Please be advised that laws, regulations, and policies may change at any time, so always check with your state for the most up-to-date information.