36-31-6. Application for licensure--Requirements.

Any applicant applying for a license as an occupational therapist or as an occupational therapy assistant shall file a written application provided by the board, showing to the satisfaction of the board that he meets the following requirements:

(1)    Residence: Applicant need not be a resident of this state;

(2)    Character: Applicant shall be of good moral character;

(3)    Education: Applicant shall present evidence satisfactory to the board of having successfully completed the academic requirements of an educational program in occupational therapy recognized by the board:

(a)    The occupational therapy educational program must be accredited by the committee on allied health education and accreditation/American Medical Association in collaboration with the American Occupational Therapy Association;

(b)    The occupational therapy assistant educational program must be approved by the American Occupational Therapy Association.

(4)    Experience: Applicant shall submit to the board evidence of having successfully completed a period of supervised fieldwork experience arranged by the recognized educational institution where he met the academic requirements or by the nationally recognized professional association:

(a)    For an occupational therapist, a minimum of six months of supervised fieldwork experience is required;

(b)    For an occupational therapy assistant, a minimum of two months of supervised fieldwork experience is required.

(5)    Examination: An applicant for licensure as an occupational therapist or as an occupational therapy assistant shall pass an examination approved by the board upon recommendation by the occupational therapy committee;

(6)    Certification: In order to apply physical agent modalities as defined in § 36-31-1, an occupational therapist or occupational therapist assistant is qualified pursuant to this subdivision, as follows:

(a)    Has successfully completed twenty-five hours of American Occupational Therapy Association or American Physical Therapy Association approved education covering physical agent modalities and completed a supervised mentorship to include five case studies on each class of modality to be incorporated into patient care;

(b)    Is certified as a hand therapist by the Hand Therapy Certification commission or other equivalent entity recognized by the board; or

(c)    Has completed education during a basic occupational therapy educational program that included demonstration of competencies on each class of the physical agent modalities.

A supervising therapist or mentor may be a physical therapist, a certified hand therapist, or an occupational therapist who has completed a supervised mentorship and has five years of clinical experience utilizing each class of physical agent modalities; or an occupational therapist who has graduated from an occupational therapy program whose curriculum includes physical agent modality education.

Source: SL 1986, ch 323, § 6; SL 2005, ch 205, § 2; SL 2021, ch 175, § 8.

36-31-6.1. Application for licensure--Criminal background check requirement.

In addition to the requirements in § 36-31-6, an applicant for licensure as an occupational therapist or an occupational therapy assistant shall submit to the board of examiners a full set of the applicant's fingerprints in a form and manner prescribed by the board. The board of examiners shall deliver the fingerprints to the Division of Criminal Investigation to conduct a state and federal criminal background check by the division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The applicant shall sign a release of information to the board of examiners and pay any fees for the background check, including fingerprinting.

Upon completion of the background check, the division shall deliver to the board of examiners the applicant's criminal history record information. The board of examiners shall consider this information in determining whether to issue a license to the applicant. The board of examiners may not issue a license to the applicant before receiving this information.

The board of examiners may not disseminate an applicant’s criminal history record information to any person outside the board. The board of examiners may require any licensee who is the subject of a disciplinary investigation by the board to submit to a state and federal criminal history record background check.

The board of examiners may deny the issuance of a license or suspend or revoke a license for failure to submit to or cooperate with a criminal background check.

Source: SL 2024, ch 163, § 1.