1. Blended Learning Structure

This isn’t the traditional college experience. It’s better. Students entering a Nursing program or OTA program will undergo a blended approach to learning, combining online coursework with in-person skills development.

Depending on the program you choose, your in-person learning will often take place during your labs, simulations, and clinical rotations. Throughout your time at Joyce, our dedicated Cohort Coordinator will organize student learning teams to help you coordinate your in-person learning with your schedule. They’ll facilitate student appreciation, cohort meetups, and specialized events specific to our students. This means that while you may not be located near your fellow classmates, you’ll have the same opportunity to connect and begin building a meaningful and lasting peer network.

Joyce students are encouraged to participate in student council, regional and international clinical trips, and service projects that we organize for the community such as blood drives, to create and maintain peer connections that will last beyond your college experience.

Each in-person session is designed to advance your nursing or OTA skills. On campus, we apply hands-on skill development that reinforces information learned in your online classes, enabling you to make the most of your meaningful time. This hands-on training will ensure both a quality education and the confidence to enter the nursing field.

Distance students interested in enrolling in programs that require travel to the Draper Campus for skill development can learn more about travel requirements and how financial aid may be used to cover the cost of travel to cover expenses on the program page under residency requirements.

2. Campus Location

Our nursing program is based in Draper, Utah, conveniently close to both Trax and FrontRunner stations, and a ride down Interstate 15 from the Salt Lake City International Airport. Our facilities reflect a student-centric culture to set you up for success. With student lounges, private study rooms, and snack areas, we’re here to help make your learning experience impactful and affordable.

Rather than directing your tuition costs towards an elaborate ecosystem of buildings, our emphasis in campus life at Joyce is on student outcomes and clinical skills training. We keep labs and simulation class sizes small to guarantee personalized instruction, so that you graduate from your program ready to practice safe, quality care. You won’t blend in or fall behind. As a student in our healthcare program, you will have every opportunity to ensure that you achieve the standard of excellence our proud alumni have set.

Check out our Campus Map to get directions to our physical campus in Draper, Utah.

3. Nursing Simulation Center

Campus life at Joyce will give you the competitive edge for job placement and advancement in the field of nursing. While much of our programs (ASN, BSN, aBSN, RN to BSN & MSN) are online, labs and clinicals are a vital part of your education. Our state-of-the-industry nursing simulation center offers high-fidelity robotic patients, life-like synthetic cadavers, and realistic hospital settings, all to establish your relevancy as a nursing professional.

Your immersive skills labs will take place in a safe, controlled environment so that you feel prepared for real-world nursing experience on day one. At Joyce, our efforts to support outcome-centered care make our graduates highly effective nursing and healthcare professionals.

You can read more about the Joyce Johnson Center of Simulation to understand how the realistic clinical atmosphere will contribute to your nursing education.

4. Library and Student Resource Center

Our students can expect learning support resources right where they need them. You’ll find all the study materials and spaces you need on campus, within walking distance of your classes, so you have a place to work free from distractions. When you’re at home, we also have an online library with a 24-hour helpline. Flexibility is integral to our programs so that as you begin the steps towards a career in nursing, you feel both welcomed and empowered.

Our Center for Teaching and Learning is equipped with expert tutors who will empower your education and help you develop the study skills and learning techniques to retain and apply the concepts you’ll need to master as you progress through your program.

An added bonus? Our student support also includes a team of Cohort Coordinators to guide our students in administrative needs. Whether you need help with arranging travel, study sessions, or team building exercises with your cohort, you’ll be connected with quality assistance to make your learning experience as impactful as possible.

Would you like to learn more about life on campus? Are you ready to enroll?

If you’re lucky enough to be with relatives on this day of gratitude, it’s easy to see why. The same mischievous smile on your grandfather’s face lights up the face of your son. Your cousins all share the family nose. And your bright eyes? Those came from your mother, who got them from her mother, whose grandmother came across the ocean from the old country, where those same bright eyes enchanted the man who would later become her husband.

Whatever our family story is, we live with the genetic outcomes every day. And we pass it on to our own children.

Understanding the history of our family’s health lets us anticipate health issues, make smart decisions, and live healthier lives.

Related resource: 7 Hacks for Healthy Living as a Medical Professional

Destiny is in your genes

Common diseases such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, as well as rare diseases like hemophilia, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell anemia, can run in families. We acquire these types of non-communicable diseases through a matrix of environmental and genetic factors.

The most common genetic diseases include:

• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Cardiovascular disease
• Asthma

In some cases, as the World Health Organization points out, individuals are born with genes that are altered by lifestyle habits or exposure to chemicals. In the example of cancer, tumor suppressor genes lose their function and the body develops carcinomas. Other diseases are more prevalent to specific ethnic communities. For example, African communities tend to have strokes as a result of cardiovascular disease, while people from South Asia are prone to heart attacks.

You can’t change your genes. But if you know your risks, you can alert your doctor and adapt your lifestyle to avoid health problems.

The Family Health History Tool

Only 33 percent of Americans have ever tried to write down their family’s health history, even though we know family health history is a powerful screening tool.

To solve this knowledge gap, the surgeon general partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies to create the web-based .

The Family Health Portrait Tool helps you organize your family history information and print it for your doctor. You can save your family history information on your own computer and share that information with other relatives.

This Thanksgiving, or the next time you’re gathered with family, talk about your health. Ask your parents or grandparents about any health problems they have — and be sure to take notes and bring it up with your doctor on your next visit.

At Joyce, our holistic principles include deep care about the health and well-being of our students. To learn about Joyce’s award-winning nursing degrees or other programs.

Related resource: A Guide to Continuing Education in the Medical Field

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is an assurance of quality for an institution. It’s a way for outside parties to know that the education a college or university provides is rigorous, and that graduates have to actually earn their diplomas or certificates, not just purchase them.

It is possible to get a good education at a non-accredited institution, but it’s harder to verify because an outside organization does not vouch for them. You only have their word that the education they offer is comprehensive. A non-accredited school could provide great education, but it could also be a diploma mill where anyone with enough cash can say they studied there.

You might think that accreditation is something that the federal government or states are in charge of, but it isn’t. In the United States, individual states decide on what colleges and universities can operate within them. However, that’s not the same as accreditation. The states only decide which institutions can set up as businesses. Accreditation comes from nongovernmental academic entities.

National, regional, and other accreditation

The two major types of accreditation in the U.S. are national and regional, and they’re very different. Most large state schools are regionally accredited by seven organizations. The oldest, the  (NEASC), dates back to 1885. These organizations came into being so that high schools could better prepare students for college, and so students and educators would know which schools were meeting certain standards. The NEASC is no longer alone. Now, every part of the country has some kind of regional accreditation .

National accreditation is newer. Professional schools and trade schools are often nationally accredited by large organizations that oversee their quality. The U.S. Department of Education maintains a list of organizations that are authorized to offer national accreditation.

So, if you’re going to school to become a nurse or occupational therapy assistant do you go to a nationally or regionally accredited school? It’s complicated. Schools for specialized occupations like lawyers, dentists, or nurses are accredited by entities that oversee that specific field. You might have heard of national or state bar organizations for lawyers. State bars are only one model for self-regulating professions that oversee their members’ education and certification. Other jobs have them, too.

Related resource: 8 Tips for Passing the NCLEX-RN Exam

Accreditation and Joyce

Being a college of healthcare, Joyce’s programs are accredited by four major organizations.

The (NWCCU) has granted 51cg institutional accreditation.

Joyce’s programs are also individually accredited by professional organizations. (ACEN), the (CCNE), and the (ACOTE). These organizations have all determined that Joyce’s curriculum meets their standards, and that our graduates are well prepared for a successful career in healthcare.

Understanding accreditation is a crucial first step—but just as important is finding the right academic path for your goals. Whether you’re new to healthcare or already a practicing nurse, Joyce offers a range of nursing programs designed to support every stage of your journey. If you’re just starting out, our ASN program or 3-Year BSN may be the perfect fit. Already an RN? Explore our RN to BSN program for career advancement. Or if you’re looking to accelerate your path or move into advanced practice, our Accelerated BSN and MSN program offer fast, flexible options to elevate your career.

Learn more about our Accreditations and Partnerships.

College, though, is also exciting and developmental outside of the classroom and lab, and we want our students to gain the most from their time at 51cg. Part of the educational experience includes living in a new city, befriending new people, and embarking on a brand-new phase in your life. Studying is critically important, but so is exploring the sights and sounds of your surroundings. Attending college in Draper, Utah offers some wonderfully unique opportunities for students, and we’ve put together six great things about the area to get you started.

1. Salt Lake City is a short drive away

If you’re craving a touch of the big city life, you’re in luck! Draper, Utah, is part of both the Provo-Orem metropolitan area and the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which means the buzzing of Salt Lake City is only a short drive away from campus.

The city is a wonderful place to explore on your own or with a group of friends, especially after a long bout of studying for finals or an exhausting day in clinical. From a history lesson at the , or staring in awe at the remarkable architecture of the city library, there is something for every taste and amusement at “The Crossroads of the West.”

2. A nature lover’s paradise

Weekends are a great time to explore the beauty of Utah. If you’ve recently survived your first overnight clinical, you don’t have to travel far outside Draper to find nature to help you relax. Because being physically active is so important for a healthy mind, putting down the books and enjoying the great outdoors can benefit your studies and yourself.

Draper is perfect for anyone who likes four seasons and the activities that go along with each, as the climate is dry and hot in the summer with a fair amount of snow in the winter. Draper has nearly for hiking, cycling, and horseback riding, and even something for the adventurous soul — the blowing winds over Traverse Ridge make Draper a mecca for hang gliding and paragliding.

3. A great place to raise a family

A lot of our students taking classes and caring for patients also have the responsibility of raising children and taking care of their families. When looking for nursing or medical assisting programs around the country, it’s important to also look for good places where your family can thrive.

Fortunately, the small-town feel of Draper makes it an excellent place to raise a family while in school — and after you graduate. With Salt Lake City so close, and with a variety of rapidly growing industries available, your spouse or other family members will have more opportunities to find a satisfying career.

4. Why leave after graduation?

After the elation and relief of graduation dies down a bit, you’ll be looking to dive right into your first job as a medical professional. While the opportunities for our graduates around the world are endless, you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to!

Utah is home to a large cohort of young, educated professionals driving the economy forward, and healthcare is one of the industries at the center of all the growth. There are many elite medical institutions to help further your education, including the University of Utah’s Huntsman Cancer Institute, which was recently given the highest designation by the National Cancer Institute.

Related Resource: Highest Paying States for Travel Nurses

5. Centrally located

Draper, Utah, is located halfway between Salt Lake and Utah counties, making it an ideal place for a melting pot of people interested in all Utah has to offer. Draper is surrounded by a metropolis (North), a burgeoning economy (West), a skier’s dream (East), and a family-centric community (South). And as a student, you’ll have access to all of it!

6. You’ll have friends for a lifetime

College is the best place to meet new people. When you go to college in Draper you’ll mingle with like-minded individuals who have similar interests and goals. You’ll make connections and bond over challenging school work, late study sessions, and mutual achievements your family or non-school friends might not understand. You’ll find your go-to people to hug when you’re having a tough time, and high-five when you aced the test you studied so hard for. They will help reinforce your commitment to school, motivate you when needed, and make everything, overall, more enjoyable.

Joyce Nursing Alumni Saves a Life After Graduation

But one summer afternoon, shortly after nursing school graduation, Emilee was driving with her mother when a car swerved in front of them and crashed into a bank of rocks. In a heartbeat, her nursing instinct took over.

Emilee jumped out of the car and ran over to the crash scene. She pushed aside the air bags and found a woman facedown on the passenger seat. “I could tell she was having a seizure,” Emilee said. “I tried to open the car door, but it was locked. All I could think was to get to her. So I reached in and unlocked the passenger door and pulled her out.”

Responding to an Emergency

The new nurse rolled the passenger on her side and noticed her ashen color. “I could tell she was starting to go blue,” said Emilee. “I saw a partially eaten hot dog on the floor and knew she was choking, too. I wanted to pull her out and give her the Heimlich, but when I opened her mouth I could see a piece of hotdog. I was able to reach in and pull it out. I just placed her so she wouldn’t hurt her head and turned her on her side. After the seizure was over, I kept asking her questions to assess her level of consciousness.

“By the time the paramedics got there, she was talking.”

In hindsight, Emilee couldn’t believe she didn’t panic. “I felt like I was working on a mannequin at school and someone was grading me. I looked at her and just knew all the things to do. It was an instinctive thought process.”

Related resource: Emergency Nursing Skills

A nurse discovers her passion

As a nursing school grad, Emilee was grateful for the experience — both because she had an opportunity to save someone’s life and now she knows she can handle her newly adopted profession. “It was nice having to face an emergency as a new nurse. I’ve never had anything happen quite like that, that required so much critical thinking to keep someone alive.”

The experience gave her a lot of faith in her own abilities. “If I can feel confident on my own like that,” said Emilee, “when I’m at work, I can feel really confident.”

Emilee found a love of nursing two years earlier, when she was hospitalized. Pregnant with her second child, Emilee developed severe preeclampsia. Baby Jaxson was quickly put into the NICU.

“Nurses saved my life,” Emilee said. “I had such a great experience, I wanted to be a nurse ever since my son was born.”

Related resource: Emergency Skills for New Nurses

Rising to the challenge

Lacking any experience in healthcare, nursing school was a challenge for Emilee. Her first clinical instructor, Heather Panek, recognized her struggle. The instructor pulled Emilee aside and shared that she hadn’t been a CNA when she’d started nursing school, either. But she assured Emilee that becoming an amazing RN would come with time.

Emilee looked around and decided that if all those other people could do it, she could do it, too. And she never looked back.

Emilee graduated in May 2016 with an associate degree in nursing and got her RN license shortly after. She now works in the NICU at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Utah. She was inspired to specialize in neonatal care by the nurses who cared for her son while he was in the NICU.

The recent grad is grateful for the tough classes and all the difficulties she went through during school. “If school isn’t that hard on you,” Emilee said, “and then you’re thrown into a [life-threatening] situation, you’re not going to know what to do!”

In fact, Emilee noticed Joyce’s teachers seemed to take pride in the difficulty of their classes. Mary Ann Cook, a particularly hard instructor, had amazing lectures and incredibly hard exams. One day, Emilee was one of the last students to finish an exam. She was just leaving the classroom when the instructor walked past. “That was so hard!” Emilee exclaimed. “Good!” the nurse replied cheerfully and walked on down the hall.

The path to nursing success

After graduation, 51cg helped Emilee translate her non-medical skills, like recordkeeping, to healthcare. Emilee was self-employed for years before going to nursing school, and Joyce helped her build a resume and practice interviewing, since she had little experience with either.

“If school weren’t so hard, I wouldn’t be as good,” Emilee said. “I found the difficulty to be a challenge — and I stood up to it and met it.”

Emilee is proud that all those clinicals and tough tests paid off, and she looks forward to saving more lives — and perhaps inspiring others to go into the nursing profession as well.

At Joyce, we’re proud to prepare our students and faculty to face life-and-death situations during the course of their jobs.

If you’re interesting in our nursing program, connect with us!

Love is powerful, but caregiving is tough. In fact, it might be one of the most difficult healthcare roles of all. The days are long, the work is often undervalued and underpaid, and our family members don’t always appreciate the emotional and financial toll it takes to provide care for our loved ones.

The month of November was established as National Family Caregivers Month in 2015 by President Barack Obama to show appreciation and support to those who provide much-needed care for others.

The Impact of Caregiving

Taking care of an aging parent or special needs child is rewarding — and incredibly stressful. Since most care takes place in the home, caregivers often feel isolated, lonely, and unappreciated. Managing medications, arranging doctor appointments, planning meals, and keeping your loved one active are all necessary tasks, but they can be very stressful for a caregiver to manage.

According to the Caregiver Action Network, one out of five caregivers admits they have sacrificed their own physical health while caring for a loved one. Due to stress, family caregivers have a disproportionate number of health and emotional problems. They are twice as likely to suffer depression and are at increased risk for many other chronic conditions, including:

• Sleep deprivation
• Poor eating habits
• Lack of exercise
• Failure to rest when sick
• Not making medical appointments for themselves
• Take care to give care

is critical to providing care. Caregivers often step into the role assuming it will be temporary; but as a loved one’s condition gets worse — or other family members fail to step in and help — caregiving can become an ongoing job. It’s critical to establish strong boundaries, healthy habits, and rules for self-care, in order to stay healthy — and sane!

No Guilt

Do not feel guilty when you attend to your own life and needs. Caregivers have friends and families of their own. And what about financial goals, hobbies, and education? You have a right to attend to your own life, and that might mean saying “no” to caregiving duties. That’s okay.

can be difficult, especially if you’re caring for a parent or someone in a position of authority. But it’s essential for the health of everyone involved. (Remember: Just because someone asks you to do something, that doesn’t mean you should do it!)

Related resource: How to Provide Care to Elderly Patients

Give Good Care

If you’ve done any caregiving yourself, you know there are good ways and bad ways to lift disabled people. There are tips, tricks, and techniques that make their (and your) life easier. To provide the best care, consider enrolling in an occupational therapist assistant (OTA) program to gain industry-standard skills.

If you’re already performing caregiving duties, consider formalizing your training and pursuing a rewarding career. The e for OTAs estimates job growth to be 34 percent — much higher than most other professions. Additionally, OTAs make an average salary of $61,520 per year, which is enough for a high standard of living in most places.

51cg’s OTA program is only 20 months long and comes with lifetime job placement.

Related resource: 10 Creative OTA Therapy Ideas to Improve Skills and Function

Find Support

There are many caregiver support networks. The , , , even , and many others are all in place to create a support system for those who care.

If you’re caring for a family member, thank you. Your charge maintains a happier, healthier quality of life as a direct result of your care.

51cg has taken a proactive approach to nursing education during the COVID-19 pandemic. As colleges adapted to social distancing protocols, Joyce students were gaining valuable clinical experience volunteering in the Medical Reserve Corps (), a federal network of volunteers sponsored by the Salt Lake County Health Department that was actively deployed throughout the Salt Lake valley to combat the spread of COVID-19.

Joyce Students Stepping Forward

Led by Jill Dubbelman and other dedicated faculty, Joyce’s senior capstone nursing students volunteered with the MRC, getting hands-on experience in the field with extensive PPE training and a crash course in FEMA disaster coordinating. “Students have provided numerous hours supporting quarantine sites, by giving medical care and more. These students have tested thousands of individuals across the valley and donated thousands of hours toward this response to COVID-19.” reports Bryan Lewis, emergency planner for the .

He goes on to say that “the MRC task force is assisting with multiple operations, including identifying ‘COVID hot spots’ and testing these areas, offering COVID-19 testing and screening at multiple locations for free, and going to numerous long term care facilities, homeless and refugee communities and providing education, screening and testing for individuals. Other areas the task force is supporting include providing medical support at quarantine and isolation facilities for individuals who have nowhere to go.”

Getting Involved with the Medical Reserve Corps.

When COVID-19 was identified in January of 2020, Bryan Lewis knew he needed to take action quickly to get medical volunteers and supporters mobilized in response to the global health crisis. “I started quickly researching organizations and reaching out to organizations with medical programs, and one of the programs I came across was (Joyce).”

After coordinating with clinical instructor Jill Dubbelman, a plan was set in motion to mobilize the capstone nursing students into strike teams for the Medical Reserve Corps. Jill worked to quickly train the student teams in PPE and lab testing to get them prepared for work in the field. “We tested 122 homeless people our first day while testing at a day shelter. The health department and 4th street clinic could not believe we did so many in one day.” says Jill.

Between April and November, “over 77 (Joyce) students and faculty gave a combined of nearly 10,000 hours (to the MRC)” — an ever-growing number as students continue to volunteer. “The students, super excited, quickly jumped to the plate and went above and beyond and assisted in multiple medical operations such as quarantine and isolation support, and COVID-19 screening and testing.” says Bryan.

Students Impacting Their Community

Joyce students have worked tireless hours to help fight against the spread of COVID-19. The strike teams they created have administered more than 30,000 tests, which has helped augment the medical response in quarantine and isolation facilities. They have helped improve testing capacities significantly according to Bryan, “at 1 facility we tested 500 people in under 3 hours with the students’ help, and we can now test 1 patient every 2-3 minutes per team. (Joyce) allowed us to more quickly and efficiently reach out to populations that needed us the most, such as homeless populations, without these students it would be difficult to test these populations. These students improved our testing capabilities significantly, and freed the health department up to perform other essential tasks such as contact tracing.”

When it comes to how the MRC has helped make an impact overall during the COVID-19 pandemic, Bryan says, “The Medical Reserve Corps has been instrumental in the response to COVID-19. The MRC has identified hot spots, performed screenings, provided medical support, and performed thousands of COVID-19 tests throughout the valley. Without the Medical Reserve Corps work, I do not believe we would be where we are currently…”

Above and beyond the call of duty, students are finding other ways to make life a little easier for the populations they are serving through the MRC. Nursing instructor Jill Dubbelman shared a few stories about how the students lended support, “Amanda Murdoch and others have donated clothes and crayons, coloring books and games to the shelter when they found out there were children there.” While other students like Camille Camocaho, offered to translate Spanish “and was a big help with her shelter because there were Spanish speaking patients she could help.” Even during the long hours focused on testing people throughout the Salt Lake valley, a few students lended a hand when they saw that a couple of kittens needed rescuing. Student nurses Nicole, Bret, Paige, and Stephanie “were testing at the men’s resource center at night with Bryan and they had to call in a fire department to save the kittens.”

What Students are Saying

“I really got to know my fellow classmates and instructors. I gained stronger and new relationships, which made COVID19 easier to cope with. It also taught me skills I wasn’t planning on gaining!

Although hours were required for capstone, I still volunteered with MRC after completion of hours and actually just got a job with them! It is nice to know that I can make a difference in the community.” – Mikayla Gibson, Student (ADN)

“My experience with the MRC has been eventful and unforgettable. I have learned to adapt quickly and be reliable. It has also been incredibly fun and rewarding and I have been able to form great friendships.

I have loved the autonomy of participating in the MRC and the feeling of actually doing something to improve and serve my community. It is so rewarding to know that I am contributing to the success of my state through this pandemic. Serving others is the most important part of nursing in my eyes, and I am being provided with ample opportunities to serve by being a part of the MRC.” – Alta Findlay, Student (ADN-BSN)

“It has been amazing to work with the health department and other nurses. The patients are nothing short of kind and respectful.” – Samantha Brimley, Student (ADN)

“Joining the MRC put me on the front lines of the COVID pandemic and I have enjoyed every minute of it. We work hard, we work fast and are committed to giving the best care and finding results in the most efficient manner during this time.

It’s been very enjoyable to be able to be a part of such a big part of our world history. Every day we are deployed out to test for illness, and I’m grateful every day to be a part of the medical profession. I’m very proud of the work that we all do in order to help control the spread of COVID as well as other everyday healthcare work. It has really opened my eyes to an entirely new, community-based side of healthcare.” – Anna Tremea, Student (ADN-BSN)

“It felt great to take part in such impactful work as a student, it was such an honor. We had patients and other people looking to us for answers. I felt like everything I had learned in school up that point was finally falling into place and that I could actually help people. It was so fulfilling!” – Jessica Reilly, Student (ADN)

Our Plans for the Future

As the pandemic continues to affect our local communities throughout Utah, Joyce and the MRC are committed to providing necessary testing and medical support to those affected by this global crisis. Through the hard work and dedication of its committed faculty, Joyce is continuing to pave the way for their capstone students to get out of the classroom and into their communities, where they can get hands-on clinical experience and gain valuable skills that will prepare them for a successful future in nursing.

If you are interested in joining our robust and active student community, check out our nursing programs and schedule an appointment to speak with an Admissions Advisor. Whether you’re beginning your healthcare journey with our ASN program, pursuing a 3 year BSN degree or accelerated BSN program, advancing through our RN to BSN program, or reaching higher with an MSN degree, you’ll join a community of nurses dedicated to making a real difference. Start your journey at our nursing school today.

We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes creating the newest addition to Joyce’s degree offerings, and we couldn’t be happier that it’s time to announce the Occupational Therapy Assistant Program. Designed by a team of the field’s most knowledgeable experts, the program provides students with everything they’ll need to thrive in this fast-growing field in only 20 months of study.

Our Evaluation Process

As a simplified overview, we look at a number of factors when considering a new program. First, we consider the job prospects for our graduates. Does the local job market support the projected number of graduates we will produce for the foreseeable future? Additionally, if there are other colleges offering the same degree, can the job market support the total pipeline of qualified graduates?

Next, we evaluate the program as it relates to our current roster of programs at a particular campus. Does this program fit within our core competency? Over the last 10 years, Joyce has become known for its rigorous, accelerated, and advanced nursing program. We only select programs that we feel can match the same level of quality our students have come to expect.

Lastly, we evaluate the inquiry demand for the program. Will students actually want to enroll in the program? Assuming the job market is strong, there is alignment with our core competency, and students are (or can be) attracted to the program, we begin the process of “onboarding” the program as part of our degree offerings. Based on our exhaustive research, Occupational Therapy Assistant was the clear best candidate for a new healthcare degree program in Utah.

A look inside the OTA program

Students in the OTA program earn an associate degree that will serve as the foundation for their healthcare career. But with Joyce’s rigorous standards and practical training, students will walk away with so much more than a degree — they’ll have what it takes to become leaders in this meaningful and financially rewarding field. The program blends work with highly credentialed faculty in the classroom, laboratory, and field, so students are ready for professional placement as soon as their coursework is complete and they have passed the National Certification exam.

Students begin the program with general education requirements such as English composition and anatomy and physiology. As time progresses, they focus in on OTA-specific knowledge and skill-building coursework that covers topics such as kinesthesiology and functional movement as well as OTA skills courses I–III. Starting as early as the 2nd semester, students are placed in field assignments where they’ll put their new knowledge to the test with doctors, patients, and occupational therapists.

The program also includes a preparatory course on passing the (NBCOT) exam, which is required in order to begin a career as an OTA. Another asset for students is the opportunity to gain ancillary certifications such as Certified Dementia Practitioner and CarFit Technician. These are just a few of the ways Joyce’s OTA graduates stand out from the rest on the search for the perfect OTA position.

Related Resource: What is an Occupational Therapy Assistant?

The growing need for more OTAs

Joyce already has many stellar programs for aspiring nurses, medical assistants, and dental lab technicians. We don’t just choose our programs out of a hat: the decision is based on deep research into job outlook and professional demand, and OTAs are one of the most in-demand types of medical specialists in the field today.

Becoming an OTA is of huge value to students as well as to the medical field overall, with the job being one of the most lucrative for someone graduating with an associate degree. Current OTAs can expect to earn between $42,000 to $71,000 annually.

According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, over 80 percent of OTA graduates find a job within six months of their program’s end. With the growing demand, this is the perfect time to start your OTA career.

Dana Leavitt, Joyce’s OTA program director, says the outlook for the occupational therapy profession is strong for the foreseeable future. “It’s an exciting time to be in the occupational therapy profession, especially because the job market looks promising. As baby boomers age and strive to maintain their independence and physical health the need for occupational therapy is expected to increase. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects occupational therapist employment growth of 27 percent between 2014 and 2024, adding 30,400 more professionals to the 114,600 existing jobs in this field.”

Related Resource: 6 Great Things about Going to College in Draper, Utah

Joyce sets graduates up for success

Now that you’re more familiar with why we chose to create the program, you may be wondering how Joyce stands by its students and champions their career progress. The OTA curriculum is designed to fall exactly in line with the standards and skills needed for the job. Students will leave the program with well-rounded knowledge and competent skill set, ready to implement occupational therapy intervention plans with confidence. Joyce works hard to ensure that every student has the opportunity to excel in the program and beyond.

Students may be drawn to becoming OTAs because they have a calling to help others. For many aspiring OTAs, the calling comes in the form of a second career. This is a job that requires a high standard of practical medical knowledge, but it’s also one in which you’re able to be the cheerleader, a coach, and a collaborator with your patients. Joyce’s five core values of integrity, excellence, being student-centered, caring, and service will help you get there.

We’re a nurse-led organization, and we take care of our students. Our NCLEX pass rates and student retention rates are a testament to that commitment. Assets like Joyce’s student services team mean you’ll never be without support for your unique set of student needs. We even provide free trainings on skills like test-taking strategies and time management methods. But the support doesn’t stop at graduation, either. Joyce offers lifelong career placement services every step of the way.

Are you interested in becoming an occupational therapy assistant? We’d love to hear about your career goals! Visit our OTA program for more information about the program.

Related Resource: How OTAs Work With Other Professionals