Stanbridge College LVN or OTA?

ashinoda24 · Oct 23, 2012

Hi!

I'm currently enrolled in the OTA program at Stanbridge College, and absolutely love it. I don't know anything about how the LVN program works, but as for the OTA program it is now a part-time, 19 month accelerated program where you attend class 3 days a week so you can still work if you want. Based off my personal experience, the instructors are wonderful! They are hands-on, passionate about what they do, and genuinely care about your success. The president, the dean, and director of the program are very approachable, and receptive to student needs. The OTA program has a lot of hands-on application via lab, and provides 14 weeks of fieldwork experience! They even help us study for the NBCOT board exam after completing the program. The career service department is exceptional at finding job opportunities for the students, both OTAs and LVNs alike, and they even provide workshops on resume building and acing the interview.

I know you said that your heart is set on becoming a nurse, which is great! I respect and admire what nurses do and the aspirations you have in becoming one. I also see that it could pose a problem in finding a job, but don't let that deter you from obtaining your dream. I do not want to sway your decision in either direction because this is a tremendous life decision that only you can make.

I highly recommend taking a tour, and talking to one of our admissions officer to see for yourself which program suits you best, and if this school will fit your needs. You can even talk to a career services officer if you want statistics about job placements for LVNs and OTAs. I also recommend you shadow a LVN and an OTA to gain a better grasp of each profession, and to see if that could help you decide which career path is best for you.

I hope this helps, and best of luck!

Jiro F · Nov 6, 2012

Hello!

I'm an OTA student and graduating from Stanbridge College in May of 2013.

I'm glad you posted this question here because there are so many people wondering about the same thing... "LVN or OTA, which one should I be?"The answer to that is IT DEPENDS.

It depends whether or not you know both professions well and how they differ is the first one. If you have done your research and spoke to a few professionals in that field, you would know what will fit you better. Find out from LVNs what their work load is about on a daily basis and same with OTAs. We have LVNs in our class just because they were getting burnt out of the work load and the reason for their switch of career path is because of the "lighter" work load OTAs do.

It depends how you want your Next 5-10 years (or maybe more) to be spent: doing what you love to do or doing something more financially rewarding. I always believe in do what you love as a career and you will "not" work a single day in your life again. Earning money will just take the back seat if it is not giving you much but work burn out rate is much lower.It depends on timing. Now is a good time to be in an OTA program because the time might come that the demand will be low and supply is high, just like with other medical professions.

It depends on your priorities. My friends who are OTAs have work til 2pm or 3pm at skilled nursing facilities. That for me work best because my priority is spending more time with my kids and this type of schedule works best.

Bottomline, if you have all the info and your priorities are set, you will know exactly which path to take.

Best of luck!

LvnOnTheRise949 · Feb 16, 2013

If you have to ask yourself, maybe Lvn isn't the right route for you.. Half the people who do the program thought " theyd tried it out" and now those half have now dropped. If Being a Lvn is what you want, then i would recommend stranbridges lvn course. I am fulltime and about to start term 3 and love it! Its honestly alot of studying and you will have NO LIFE but its only 13 months and you will love it more and more each day. - Hope this helps!