UST’S OCCUPATIONAL Therapy (OT) program is one step closer to achieving accreditation from the association of occupational therapists in the country, after the latter conducted ocular inspections last March 16 and April 17.
Sally Uy, head of the Occupational Therapy department of the College of Rehabilitation Sciences, said the college is awaiting the results of the inspection conducted by the Occupational Therapy Association of the Philippines (Otap).
“We cannot really say when the Otap will release the results. It is up to them,” Uy said, adding that other universities “waited for months, (even) years” for the inspection results.
Uy said the results would determine if the program still lacks the requirements for accreditation. But she was confident “we (would be) able meet the standards.”
The inspection was delayed and the accreditation process “suffered” because of a Varsitarian report last September, Dean Jocelyn Agcaoili said.
“The report was really a big blow to us,” Uy said.
In its Sept. 30, 2008 issue, the Varsitarian reported that UST’s application for accreditation had been sitting with the Otap since 2003.
Otap had denied this, saying it was unable to act on UST’s application because of lack of manpower.
The Varsitarian tried to reach Otap for comment on how the paper’s report affected the accreditation process, but the association has yet to reply as of press time.
Otap’s nod is needed for UST to be able to qualify for accreditation by the World Federation of Occupational Therapists, without which graduates of the University won’t be able to work abroad.
