Terra State Community College, located in Fremont, Ohio, was recently granted accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) for its Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) program. A news report from The Beacon notes that the first class of PTA students graduated from Terra State in May, and those graduates are now preparing for the Ohio Jurisprudence Exam and the National Physical Therapist Assistant Exam (NPTAE). Accreditation was retroactive to February 12, 2014.

Bruce Wassung, PTA, MSPH, director of the PTA program, states, “CAPTE granted a full five-year accreditation to Terra State, the maximum length awarded to any new PTA program. We are excited for our students and the patients and communities they will soon serve.” Wassung says accreditation is important to students considering a career as a PTA because it helps assure the quality and consistency of the student’s classroom and clinical educational experiences, as noted on The Beacon news report.

In addition, Wassung asserts that it is also important consumers of physical therapy services because it helps ensure that our patients are cared for by clinicians with the appropriate knowledge, skill and behaviors to meet the public’s expectations.

CAPTE is the only agency empowered to grant accreditation to physical therapy programs in the United States. As part of their site visit, CAPTE reviewers interviewed all of the first- and second-year PTA students, and reviewers also looked for labs with up-to-date instructional technologies and modern equipment used in physical therapy practices.

Wassung says, “The reviewers found that the students were well informed of their academic and clinical progress and performance throughout all aspects of the program.” The faculty and clinical education instructors also garnered praise from the reviewers, according to The Beacon news report. Wassung adds, “They recognized that we all are working hard to provide our students with the feedback and guidance they need to be successful.”

Source: The Beacon