Newsroom
CAOT Launches New Project for Internationally Educated Occupational Therapists
posted: Thursday, April 22, 2010
April 22, 2010 (OTTAWA, ON) - The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists (CAOT) is pleased to announce the launch of the National Occupational Therapy Examination and Practice Preparation (OTepp) Project - a 27 month initiative in partnership with McMaster University School of Rehabilitation and funded by the Government of Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition Program.
The focus of the OTepp Program is to assist internationally educated occupational therapists (IEOTs) as they seek to transition into practice in Canada. The project includes a needs assessment process that will assist IEOTs to determine their individual needs.
“The OTepp project will build upon previous work of McMaster University to develop a flexible national curriculum that can be delivered by occupational therapy education programs across Canada.,” says Dr. Claudia von Zweck, Executive Director, CAOT. “Participants will need to achieve an average of 60% on all assignments in order to pass the course upon which successful completion will be recognized by some regulatory bodies towards the completion of currency hours.“
In 2009, CAOT launched the IEOT Web Portal (www.gocanadaot.ca), an entry point for employers, domestically educated occupational therapists, settlement agencies, and other organizations working with IEOTs to access coordinated information related to occupational therapy in Canada. OTepp followed the project’s success and strives to provide added value to the Canadian economy by addressing the existing skill shortage and labour market needs by building on existing abilities of foreign-trained occupational therapists.
“Developing sound models for enabling new Canadians to enter the profession and pass the national certification exam is a clear priority,” says Dr. von Zweck. “The Canadian public will benefit from expanding the occupational therapist workforce to improve access to occupational therapy services.”
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For more information, please contact:
Cheryl Evans
Communications Coordinator
The Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
613-523-2268 ext. 225
