East Arkansas Community College has announced Sunny Amber Pleasants of Forrest City as the Program Director/Instructor for the EACC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program (OTA)
November 14, 2011
East Arkansas Community College-Forrest City
Press Release-Photo Attached
East Arkansas Community College has announced Sunny Amber Pleasants of Forrest City as the Program Director/Instructor for the EACC Occupational Therapy Assistant Program (OTA).
Pleasants, a graduate of EACC, earned Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, Arkansas. She is also associated with Kids for the Future, Goode Therapy Services and Q-Source of Arkansas.
Occupational therapist assistants (OTAs), commonly known as occupational therapy assistants, work under the direction of occupational therapists to provide rehabilitative services to persons with mental, physical, emotional, or developmental impairments. The ultimate goal is to improve clients’ quality of life and ability to perform daily activities.
There were only 126 accredited occupational therapist assistant programs in 2007 in the U.S. The first year of study typically involves an introduction to health care, basic medical terminology, anatomy, and physiology. In the second year, courses are more rigorous and usually include occupational therapist program-specific courses in areas such as mental health, adult physical disabilities, gerontology, and pediatrics. Students also must complete 16 weeks of supervised fieldwork in a clinic or community setting.
As part of her duties at EACC, Pleasants will serve as Program Director for the OTA program and will be directly involved with developing and establishing accreditation for the program. She is currently an instructor for Medical Terminology class and will teach the same class online in the spring semester. She will also teach Introduction to OTA in the spring.
Pleasants is certified by the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy and is licensed with the Arkansas State Medical Board. She is a member of American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and the Arkansas Occupational Therapy Association.
“I am looking forward to sharing with the students at EACC my love of occupational therapy and how it positively impacts the lives of individuals with special needs,” said Pleasants.
The OTA program at EACC has entered the process of accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education (ACOTE) and is in the Developing Program Status phase. Upon approval, EACC anticipates the first class to be admitted in 2012.
Photo: Sunny Amber Pleasants