ABSTRACT

The purposes of establishing accreditation standards for the occupational therapy program are toassure the quality of the program and to assist in the development of the program. Accreditation serves the public as accredited programs modify their requirements to reflect changes in knowledge and practice generally accepted in the field. To students, accreditation provides an assurance that the educational activities of an accredited program have been found to be satisfactory, and therefore meet the needs of students. Also it assists in the transfer of credits between institutions, or in the admission of students to advanced degrees through the general acceptance of credits among accredited institutions when the performance of the students has been satisfactory and the credits to be transferred are appropriate to the receiving institution. The occupational therapy programs benefit from accreditation through the stimulus provided for self-evaluation and self-directed program improvement and strengthening of program self-evaluation by the review and counsel provided through the accrediting agency. At the same time, this process enhances the reputation of an accredited program because of public regard for accreditation. Lastly, the profession of occupational therapy can be strengthened by contributing to the unity of the professions in an activity directed at improving professional preparation and professional practice.