COTA® and OTR® Exam Candidates, do not forget about the upcoming blackout period for the NBCOT® Certification Exam. Even if you are not preparing for your exam this December, but know you graduate next December, this is an important article to read.
If you are planning on taking your exam soon, or are trying to decide when to take the exam, consider your potential testing date in accordance with the scoring schedule NBCOT® has posted on their website. During the month of December you may be pressed for time with finishing up your curriculum, taking part in the holiday spirit, and feverishly preparing for your exam. This year there is an approximate 2 week period read more...
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
How to get the Most Out of Your Fieldwork Experience
If you are preparing for your fieldwork or are currently working in a level I or II setting, remember to use your experience to help you now and in the future on your NBCOT Certification Exam and with your future job. Incorporating a journal is a wonderful way to remember the diagnoses you evaluated and treated, how you graded interventions, the client response to treatments, typical complaints about pain or functional status, collaboration with team members, and how you planned a discharge.
Dedicate one notebook to your level I and II fieldworks. Then, when you begin preparing for your NBCOT Exam, you can review everything you have seen in a clinical setting. This is one step in the right direction to focus on what you know and need to review.
Now, use your OT savvy and clinical reasoning. This is where the difficult part of preparing for your exam and identifying your weak areas meet! Envision read more
Dedicate one notebook to your level I and II fieldworks. Then, when you begin preparing for your NBCOT Exam, you can review everything you have seen in a clinical setting. This is one step in the right direction to focus on what you know and need to review.
Now, use your OT savvy and clinical reasoning. This is where the difficult part of preparing for your exam and identifying your weak areas meet! Envision read more
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Free NBCOT Research Study Group!
If you are a COTA or OTR exam candidate or will be soon, join a free research study group hosted and presented by OT-ADVANTAGE.COM! Click the link below for more information:
Click here
Click here
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Textbook Picks for Your NBCOT Studies
Brain teaser! Test yourself. The answer is at the bottom.
An OTR is passively extending a client’s elbow while palpating the joint at the end range. The individual is unable to fully extend and the clinician is able to sense the immobility by touch.
The OTR is assessing the ____ ____ to determine the type of actual end range.
Reviewing the right textbooks and journals is an integral part to your NBCOT Certification Examination studies. How do you get on track and make sure you have the right material? One step in the right direction is reviewing the 2008 NBCOT Textbook and Journal Survey.
NBCOT contacts U.S. occupational therapy programs to determine what students are using in the classroom. The next step is incorporating the most recent edition resources to develop and revise actual exam questions for the COTA and OTR exams.
The best place to find this survey is to visit www.nbcot.org. Once you navigate to the site, click on the useful links icon in the exam candidates section.
Here are some picks from OT-ADVANTAGE.COM on great books to impact your studies and jumpstart your study plan!
OTR Exam Picks:
Occupational Therapy for Children 5th edition
Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy 6th edition
Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy 11th edition
Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction 6th edition
The Merck Manual
Introduction to Splinting: A Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Approach 3rd edition
Ethics in Rehabilitation
Psychosocial Occupational Therapy 2nd edition
Vision, Perception, & Cognition 4th ed
COTA Exam Picks:
Occupational Therapy for Children 5th edition
Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy 6th edition
Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy 11th edition
Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction 6th edition
Mental Health Concepts & Techniques for the OTA 4th edition
Introduction to Splinting: A Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Approach 3rd edition
Physical Dysfunction Practice Skills for the OTA 2nd edition
Ethics in Rehabilitation
Psychosocial Occupational Therapy 2nd edition
Vision, Perception, & Cognition 4th ed
Please note, these are suggestions on texts to incorporate into your studies. These are not meant to substitute or limit your current choices.
*Answer to the brain teaser is end feel
An OTR is passively extending a client’s elbow while palpating the joint at the end range. The individual is unable to fully extend and the clinician is able to sense the immobility by touch.
The OTR is assessing the ____ ____ to determine the type of actual end range.
Reviewing the right textbooks and journals is an integral part to your NBCOT Certification Examination studies. How do you get on track and make sure you have the right material? One step in the right direction is reviewing the 2008 NBCOT Textbook and Journal Survey.
NBCOT contacts U.S. occupational therapy programs to determine what students are using in the classroom. The next step is incorporating the most recent edition resources to develop and revise actual exam questions for the COTA and OTR exams.
The best place to find this survey is to visit www.nbcot.org. Once you navigate to the site, click on the useful links icon in the exam candidates section.
Here are some picks from OT-ADVANTAGE.COM on great books to impact your studies and jumpstart your study plan!
OTR Exam Picks:
Occupational Therapy for Children 5th edition
Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy 6th edition
Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy 11th edition
Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction 6th edition
The Merck Manual
Introduction to Splinting: A Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Approach 3rd edition
Ethics in Rehabilitation
Psychosocial Occupational Therapy 2nd edition
Vision, Perception, & Cognition 4th ed
COTA Exam Picks:
Occupational Therapy for Children 5th edition
Pedretti’s Occupational Therapy 6th edition
Willard & Spackman’s Occupational Therapy 11th edition
Occupational Therapy for Physical Dysfunction 6th edition
Mental Health Concepts & Techniques for the OTA 4th edition
Introduction to Splinting: A Clinical Reasoning and Problem-Solving Approach 3rd edition
Physical Dysfunction Practice Skills for the OTA 2nd edition
Ethics in Rehabilitation
Psychosocial Occupational Therapy 2nd edition
Vision, Perception, & Cognition 4th ed
Please note, these are suggestions on texts to incorporate into your studies. These are not meant to substitute or limit your current choices.
*Answer to the brain teaser is end feel
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Clinical Simulation Test Problem
CS questions can be considered a structured format item. That is, they require you to apply your knowledge and information from the previous questions and relate it to the subsequent sections, similar to ordering. However, this ordering relates to the progression of occupational therapy evaluation, treatment, and/or discharge planning pertaining to your specific test problem.
Your CS will begin with an opening scene. This opening scene then leads you to reading the first question. You may select an answer or answers, based on your comprehension of the question, critical reasoning, and knowledge. Once you select an answer, you cannot deselect it. Feedback responses will be listed after you select an answer choice that you can apply to the proceeding sections accordingly.
Recognizing the OT process and understanding the validated domain, task, and knowledge statements aids you in your critical reasoning skills to apply to a clinical simulation test problem. It may sound simple to identify the above, but this is the area most exam candidates may forget to study and apply to their CST problems.
Take a look at the CS example below. This may help you visualize a potential test problem.
Section 1
An OTR is working in a partial hospital program and receives a referral to evaluate a client with a diagnosis of clinical anxiety recently discharged to home from an acute inpatient psychiatric unit. The client has extreme fear of finding and keeping a job due to a recent layoff from her job of 20 years. The client has missed several scheduled interviews, is avoiding family and friends, and has severe worry about the future.
The OTR is completing the read more:
CS questions can be considered a structured format item. That is, they require you to apply your knowledge and information from the previous questions and relate it to the subsequent sections, similar to ordering. However, this ordering relates to the progression of occupational therapy evaluation, treatment, and/or discharge planning pertaining to your specific test problem.
Your CS will begin with an opening scene. This opening scene then leads you to reading the first question. You may select an answer or answers, based on your comprehension of the question, critical reasoning, and knowledge. Once you select an answer, you cannot deselect it. Feedback responses will be listed after you select an answer choice that you can apply to the proceeding sections accordingly.
Recognizing the OT process and understanding the validated domain, task, and knowledge statements aids you in your critical reasoning skills to apply to a clinical simulation test problem. It may sound simple to identify the above, but this is the area most exam candidates may forget to study and apply to their CST problems.
Take a look at the CS example below. This may help you visualize a potential test problem.
Section 1
An OTR is working in a partial hospital program and receives a referral to evaluate a client with a diagnosis of clinical anxiety recently discharged to home from an acute inpatient psychiatric unit. The client has extreme fear of finding and keeping a job due to a recent layoff from her job of 20 years. The client has missed several scheduled interviews, is avoiding family and friends, and has severe worry about the future.
The OTR is completing the read more:
Friday, May 15, 2009
Reading an Exam Question
This blog brought to you by www.ot-advantage.com
The NBCOT® Certification Exam for the OTR® candidate is a combination of multiple choice, scenario, and clinical simulation exam questions. The scenario question is given in the form of a multiple choice question. Therefore, the method and strategy you incorporate for a standard multiple choice question can be utilized with the scenario format as well. The clinical simulation portion of the exam is a new section for the 2009 OTR® certification exam. Your reasoning skills are tested in a different format than the multiple choice exam questions.
The NBCOT® Certification Exam for the COTA® candidate is a multiple choice format. Therefore, one can employ a test strategy that will satisfy tackling a multiple choice question.
Both exams are criterion-referenced. This essentially means NBCOT® has determined a minimum passing score to determine one’s ability, skill, and knowledge to perform as an entry-level practitioner.
How can one pass? Probably one of the best methods to employ is repetition, repetition, repetition. And this is best done by taking practice tests. One needs to become comfortable with reading an exam question, identifying the stem of a question, and synthesizing the information to determine the best answer. Each exam question has a principle area that delivers information to the exam candidate to reduce the answer choices down to the best one.
Take a look at a sample test question:
An OTR or COTA is educating a client with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease how to incorporate pursed lip breathing with self care tasks. The MOST EFFECTIVE breathing technique to incorporate during a dressing task to decrease symptoms of dyspnea is:
1. Promote the client to breathe in when lifting legs into pants
2. Encourage the client to breathe out when pulling a shirt overhead
3. Reinforce a daily self care routine be performed in sitting
4. Emphasize the use of a pulse oximeter during lower body dressing
A. First, determine the areas of the stem of the exam question. The stem of the question is how the problem is presented to the exam candidate. Therefore, there are many key words that comprise the stem and it is not localized in one area.
An OTR or COTA is educating a client with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease how to incorporate pursed lip breathing with self care tasks. The MOST EFFECTIVE breathing technique to incorporate during a dressing task to decrease symptoms of dyspnea is:
B. Next, think about or visualize this example and the possible answer or technique you would employ in practice. Do you see it in the answer choices?
C. Then, eliminate the incorrect answer choices. Sometimes the incorrect choices may seem obvious to rule out, as they have distinctive qualities that do not apply to or contradict the stem of the question.
1. Promote the client to breathe in when lifting legs into pants
2. Encourage the client to breathe out when pulling a shirt overhead
3. Reinforce daily self care routine be performed in sitting; this is considered an energy conservation technique.
4. Emphasize the use of a pulse oximeter during lower body dressing; this is not considered a breathing technique. However, emphasizing the use of a pulse ox can be done in addition to pursed lip or diaphragmatic breathing.
D. If or when you are left with two remaining answer choices, apply those answer choices to the stem of the question. Synthesizing this information requires you to comprehend the exam question. Decreasing symptoms of shortness of breath would require the client to breathe in or out during exertion?
E. Choose the best answer by reducing the information presented to you in the question and the remaining answer choices.
Correct Answer:
Answer 2: Breathing out during exertion can decrease SOB and does not cause an increased strain on the lungs or cardiovascular system.
In summation, taking practice exam questions is a great way for one to become familiar and comfortable with the format of the NBCOT® Certification Exam, as well as help one identify areas they need to become more familiar with to aid their success in passing.
The NBCOT® Certification Exam for the OTR® candidate is a combination of multiple choice, scenario, and clinical simulation exam questions. The scenario question is given in the form of a multiple choice question. Therefore, the method and strategy you incorporate for a standard multiple choice question can be utilized with the scenario format as well. The clinical simulation portion of the exam is a new section for the 2009 OTR® certification exam. Your reasoning skills are tested in a different format than the multiple choice exam questions.
The NBCOT® Certification Exam for the COTA® candidate is a multiple choice format. Therefore, one can employ a test strategy that will satisfy tackling a multiple choice question.
Both exams are criterion-referenced. This essentially means NBCOT® has determined a minimum passing score to determine one’s ability, skill, and knowledge to perform as an entry-level practitioner.
How can one pass? Probably one of the best methods to employ is repetition, repetition, repetition. And this is best done by taking practice tests. One needs to become comfortable with reading an exam question, identifying the stem of a question, and synthesizing the information to determine the best answer. Each exam question has a principle area that delivers information to the exam candidate to reduce the answer choices down to the best one.
Take a look at a sample test question:
An OTR or COTA is educating a client with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease how to incorporate pursed lip breathing with self care tasks. The MOST EFFECTIVE breathing technique to incorporate during a dressing task to decrease symptoms of dyspnea is:
1. Promote the client to breathe in when lifting legs into pants
2. Encourage the client to breathe out when pulling a shirt overhead
3. Reinforce a daily self care routine be performed in sitting
4. Emphasize the use of a pulse oximeter during lower body dressing
A. First, determine the areas of the stem of the exam question. The stem of the question is how the problem is presented to the exam candidate. Therefore, there are many key words that comprise the stem and it is not localized in one area.
An OTR or COTA is educating a client with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease how to incorporate pursed lip breathing with self care tasks. The MOST EFFECTIVE breathing technique to incorporate during a dressing task to decrease symptoms of dyspnea is:
B. Next, think about or visualize this example and the possible answer or technique you would employ in practice. Do you see it in the answer choices?
C. Then, eliminate the incorrect answer choices. Sometimes the incorrect choices may seem obvious to rule out, as they have distinctive qualities that do not apply to or contradict the stem of the question.
1. Promote the client to breathe in when lifting legs into pants
2. Encourage the client to breathe out when pulling a shirt overhead
3. Reinforce daily self care routine be performed in sitting; this is considered an energy conservation technique.
4. Emphasize the use of a pulse oximeter during lower body dressing; this is not considered a breathing technique. However, emphasizing the use of a pulse ox can be done in addition to pursed lip or diaphragmatic breathing.
D. If or when you are left with two remaining answer choices, apply those answer choices to the stem of the question. Synthesizing this information requires you to comprehend the exam question. Decreasing symptoms of shortness of breath would require the client to breathe in or out during exertion?
E. Choose the best answer by reducing the information presented to you in the question and the remaining answer choices.
Correct Answer:
Answer 2: Breathing out during exertion can decrease SOB and does not cause an increased strain on the lungs or cardiovascular system.
In summation, taking practice exam questions is a great way for one to become familiar and comfortable with the format of the NBCOT® Certification Exam, as well as help one identify areas they need to become more familiar with to aid their success in passing.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Create a Study Plan!
You may feel a tightening in your chest, losing your ability to speak, and the room is fuzzy. All you want is a moment to sit down and catch your breath, but you cannot avoid these feelings. No, you are not having a heart attack. You are preparing for your NBCOT® Certification Exam! Yes, that is what is making you anxious and unsure about the future.
Take a moment to relax and know that you are in good company. With thousands of people graduating from OT and OTA programs, everyone has the same weight being carried on their shoulders. And the question everyone wants to know the answer to is, “Will I Pass?” Then there are the added factors; test anxiety, bad test-taker, or short attention span. Each person is unique, and is approaching their upcoming exam knowing their strengths and their limitations.
Ultimately, you want to be prepared for your NBCOT® OTR® or OTA® Certification Examination. While no one has the magic solution, there is a technique you can incorporate.First and foremost, develop your study plan and identify different preparatory resources. To better know how to initiate your study plan take the OTR® or OTA® Exam Readiness Tool from NBCOT®, as well as review the 2007 OTR® Validated Domain, Task, and Knowledge Statements or the 2007 Blueprint specifications for the COTA read more... (you must be logged into ot-advantage.com to view this blog).
Take a moment to relax and know that you are in good company. With thousands of people graduating from OT and OTA programs, everyone has the same weight being carried on their shoulders. And the question everyone wants to know the answer to is, “Will I Pass?” Then there are the added factors; test anxiety, bad test-taker, or short attention span. Each person is unique, and is approaching their upcoming exam knowing their strengths and their limitations.
Ultimately, you want to be prepared for your NBCOT® OTR® or OTA® Certification Examination. While no one has the magic solution, there is a technique you can incorporate.First and foremost, develop your study plan and identify different preparatory resources. To better know how to initiate your study plan take the OTR® or OTA® Exam Readiness Tool from NBCOT®, as well as review the 2007 OTR® Validated Domain, Task, and Knowledge Statements or the 2007 Blueprint specifications for the COTA read more... (you must be logged into ot-advantage.com to view this blog).
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Are You Studying for the NBCOT Exam?
If you are an Occupational Therapy student and concerned about your impending NBCOT® OTR® Certifcation Examination, the OT Advantage Site would like to help. Beginning April 18, 2009, OT Advantage will be piloting a live-online exam preparation course. Take the course from the comfort of your own home. Sign-up and further information can be found via WWW.OT-ADVANTAGE.COM April 1, 2009. Stay tuned for further info.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Wiihabilitation
This blog brought to you by: WWW.OT-ADVANTAGE.COM
Are you looking for more ways to incorporate the Nintendo Wii into your Occupational Therapy interventions? Did you know you can now use the Wii to surf the Internet? If you have an Occupational Therapy client whose goal is to use the Internet, needs to be able to use the computer to return to work, or increase visual attention, the Nintendo Wii can be used as an adjunct to meet those goals. Check out how you can hook up a Wii to the Internet:
Internet Access
Remember, think out of the box. Whether you are addressing grasp, attention, organization, endurance, or memory, the Nintendo Wii can help your clients reach their OT goals!
Are you looking for more ways to incorporate the Nintendo Wii into your Occupational Therapy interventions? Did you know you can now use the Wii to surf the Internet? If you have an Occupational Therapy client whose goal is to use the Internet, needs to be able to use the computer to return to work, or increase visual attention, the Nintendo Wii can be used as an adjunct to meet those goals. Check out how you can hook up a Wii to the Internet:
Internet Access
Remember, think out of the box. Whether you are addressing grasp, attention, organization, endurance, or memory, the Nintendo Wii can help your clients reach their OT goals!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Malpractice Insurance
Choosing malpractice insurance to protect your Occupational Therapy professional liability may seem perplexing and scary. You may say to yourself, I am a responsible Occupational Therapy practitioner and I follow the rules and progression of evaluation and treatment. Even the most responsible and meticulous Occupational Therapist and Occupational Therapy Assistant is not protected by intelligence and skill, rather they are protected by a means of the universal language-MONEY!
You may now be wondering if you are protected under your employer’s policy, sometimes referred to as an umbrella policy. Your employer may provide malpractice insurance, but research this policy and find out how YOU are protected:
How much professional liability do they offer?
Does the coverage include, read more...
You may now be wondering if you are protected under your employer’s policy, sometimes referred to as an umbrella policy. Your employer may provide malpractice insurance, but research this policy and find out how YOU are protected:
How much professional liability do they offer?
Does the coverage include, read more...
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Occupational Therapy Month or Life?
This brought to you by: OT-ADVANTAGE.COM
April is Occupational Therapy month and it is vastly approaching. My question is, why is OT recognized once a year? The pressure becomes enormous to try and plan an event or to publicize Occupational Therapy and its wonderful attributes one time a year. For example, consider the pressure you are under when trying to plan holiday festivities.
If you are a hospital, business, or organization that chooses to recognize your Occupational Therapy practitioners and students during the month of April, thank you. This actually becomes an overlooked month, as sometimes an overlooked healthcare profession.
If you are an Occupational Therapy practitioner, student, or educator, I challenge you to pay it forward! Read more...
April is Occupational Therapy month and it is vastly approaching. My question is, why is OT recognized once a year? The pressure becomes enormous to try and plan an event or to publicize Occupational Therapy and its wonderful attributes one time a year. For example, consider the pressure you are under when trying to plan holiday festivities.
If you are a hospital, business, or organization that chooses to recognize your Occupational Therapy practitioners and students during the month of April, thank you. This actually becomes an overlooked month, as sometimes an overlooked healthcare profession.
If you are an Occupational Therapy practitioner, student, or educator, I challenge you to pay it forward! Read more...
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Global Occupational Therapy Conferences 2009
This blog brought to you by: WWW.OT-ADVANTAGE.COM
Are you interested in exploring the world of Occupational Therapy? Take a look at the upcoming conferences for the 2009-2010 year for your opportunity to go abroad. This is a great way to experience how Occupational Therapy is practiced globally.
Africa
6th Annual Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group Congress September 28-October 2, 2009
South Africa Waves of Change July 1-3, 2009
Europe
Ergo Austria-Evidence-based Practice in Occupational Therapy March 27 2009
France Ergotherapie Symposium-Interventions in Ergotherapie May 28-29, 2009
Ireland AOTI Conference 2009-Occupational Therapists Visible and Valued April 29-May 1, 2009
First Russian Ergotherapy Conference May 17, 2009
United Kingdom-Brighton 2009 June 23-26, 2009
North America
Canada CAOT-Engaging in Healthy Occupation June 3-6, 2009
USA AOTA-Recharge Your Career in Houston April 23-26, 2009
Are you interested in exploring the world of Occupational Therapy? Take a look at the upcoming conferences for the 2009-2010 year for your opportunity to go abroad. This is a great way to experience how Occupational Therapy is practiced globally.
Africa
6th Annual Occupational Therapy Africa Regional Group Congress September 28-October 2, 2009
South Africa Waves of Change July 1-3, 2009
Europe
Ergo Austria-Evidence-based Practice in Occupational Therapy March 27 2009
France Ergotherapie Symposium-Interventions in Ergotherapie May 28-29, 2009
Ireland AOTI Conference 2009-Occupational Therapists Visible and Valued April 29-May 1, 2009
First Russian Ergotherapy Conference May 17, 2009
United Kingdom-Brighton 2009 June 23-26, 2009
North America
Canada CAOT-Engaging in Healthy Occupation June 3-6, 2009
USA AOTA-Recharge Your Career in Houston April 23-26, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
How Much Are You Worth?
Picture yourself sitting in front of your superior, awaiting your annual review. You have been strategizing how you ask for a raise, greater than the average one given out, yet a competitive Occupational Therapy practitioner wage. Before you state your case, remember a few points.
How is your raise determined?
Your raise is determined by your work read more...
How is your raise determined?
Your raise is determined by your work read more...
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