Service delivery hours…are they really too much?

Would you go for a root canal with a dentist who hadn’t actually touched a patient in 5 years? If you were told you needed to see a medical specialist because your needs were beyond the capacity of your general practitioner, would it be enough for you to see someone who rarely dealt with your condition?

One of the foundations of the AOTA Board and Specialty Certifications is that they are considered to be practice certifications. That doesn’t mean that managers, researchers, and faculty can’t apply. It does mean, however, that all applicants need to have some actual service delivery hours in the area. What does that mean for certification candidates?

Let’s break it down using the assumption of 4 vacation weeks in a year and a 35 hour work week.

Specialty Certification

Specialty certification is valid for a period of 4 years. Applicants need to have 600 hours delivering services with clients in the specialty area. Given the above criteria for work hours and vacation, that breaks down to approximately 3 hours a week over 4 years – less than 2 days a month.

Board Certification

A minimum of 5 years as an OT is necessary to apply for Board Certification and BC is valid for 5 years. Applicants need 5,000 hours in the certification area, which can include anything from service delivery, to teaching, to management, to research, to consultation. Those hours can be met in 3 years working full time in the area; 4 years if you don’t work summers.

Of the 5,000 hours, 500 need to be delivering services with clients (individuals or groups). Those 500 hours break down to approximately 2 hours a week over 5 years.

Want to do it in less time?
Here’s what you need to meet the service delivery hour requirement…

Specialty Certification

4 years = 3 hours/week = 9% of caseload
3 years = 4 hours/week = 18% of caseload
2 years = 6 hrs 15 min/week = 27% of caseload
1 year = 12½ hours/week = 36% of caseload
6 mos. = 25 hours/week = 72% of caseload

Board Certification

5 years = 2 hours/week = 6% of caseload
4 years = 2½ hours/week = 12% of caseload
3 years = 3½ hours/week = 18% of caseload
2 years = 5 hours/week = 24% of caseload
1 year = 10½ hours/week = 30% of caseload
6 mos. = 21 hours/week = 60% of caseload

So what do you do if you don’t have the hours? Keep working on getting them! And use that time to develop a great portfolio that really highlights your achievements in meeting the competencies and indicators. Then, when you have your hours, all you have to do is click “Submit” and you’re on your way!

How much evidence is enough?

We sometimes get questions about how many pages of evidence an application should include. Your final page number will depend on

• the total number of activities you submit (remember a single activity may be used up to 4 times) and
• the different types of activities your application includes (a letter with a description and verification of volunteer service may be 1 page, whereas evidence for program evaluation may be 3 pages).

Reviewers really don’t want to see every little thing you’ve ever done (especially if it’s not relevant to the application at hand), and they don’t want to have to dig through a tomb to get to the heart of your application. Neither do they want to be left with questions because something is missing.

Applications with 35 pages of evidence have been approved, and applications with 200 pages of evidence have been approved.

To date, the average number of pages of evidence submitted with an application is 68.

Remember when you’re putting your evidence together to “communicate” with the reviewer by highlighting relevant information with arrows, circles, or actual highlighter. Including the indicator number(s) on each page is not required, but is always a welcome help.

Keep up the good work!

Maria Elena E. Louch, Professional Development Program Manager