(a)An applicant for licensure as an occupational therapist or as an occupational therapy assistant shall file an application showing, to the satisfaction of the board of occupational therapy, that the applicant:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 63-13-202
ACOTE: means the Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education, a nationally recognized accrediting agency for professional programs in the field of occupational therapy. See Tennessee Code 63-13-103
Board: means : (A) As used in part 2 of this chapter, the board of occupational therapy. See Tennessee Code 63-13-103
NBCOT: means the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy. See Tennessee Code 63-13-103
Occupational therapist: means a person licensed to engage in occupational therapy practice under this chapter. See Tennessee Code 63-13-103
Occupational therapy assistant: means a person licensed to assist in occupational therapy practice under the supervision of an occupational therapist. See Tennessee Code 63-13-103
written: includes printing, typewriting, engraving, lithography, and any other mode of representing words and letters. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Is of good moral character;(2) Has successfully completed the academic requirements of an educational program accredited by ACOTE or its predecessor organization. The accredited program shall be a program for occupational therapists or a program for occupational therapy assistants, depending upon the category of licensure for which the applicant is applying;(3) Has successfully completed the period of supervised fieldwork experience required by ACOTE; and(4) Has made an acceptable score on a written or computerized examination designed to test the applicant’s knowledge of the basic and clinical services related to occupational therapy, occupational therapy techniques and methods and other subjects that may help to determine an applicant’s fitness to practice. The board of occupational therapy shall approve an examination for occupational therapists and an examination for occupational therapy assistants and shall establish standards for acceptable performance on each examination. The board is authorized to use the entry level national examinations prepared and administered by NBCOT as the examinations used to test applicants for licensure as occupational therapists or occupational therapy assistants and is authorized to use the standards of NBCOT in determining an acceptable score on each examination.(b)(1) When the board receives a completed application for initial licensure from an applicant, then the board shall, within sixty (60) days from the date the board receives the completed application:
(A) Render a decision on the application; or(B) Inform the applicant of the need to appear before the board.(2) As used in this subsection (b), “completed application” means an application that satisfies all statutory and board rule requirements.
