OTA Graduates Find Success and Work with Purpose

“Skills for the job of living,” that’s how Sharon Lyttle, co-owner of Lyttle Fox Therapy, describes the role of occupational therapy.

When it comes to training the next generation of therapists, Nashville State is leading the way.

Through Nashville State’s Occupational Therapy Assistant program students earn an Associate of Applied Sciences degree in two years and take a national exam to become licensed and certified occupational therapy assistants.

As the program has produced professionals throughout the region, it has developed a reputation for excellence in its training.  

“Our faculty are amazing, and we set expectations early,” Dr. Piper Sesnan, director of the Occupational Therapy Assistant program in the School of Health Sciences, said.

“We want students to learn something about themselves and to learn to treat the whole person.”

Sharon Lyttle and the staff at Lyttle Fox, say, “We trust when they send us a student, we’re not going to regret it.”

Opened 19 years ago, Lyttle and co-owner Niki Fox have grown the practice to two locations, 40 employees – with many being Nashville State graduates – and 4,000 patient visits a month, where they specialize in pediatrics.

The therapy they provide patients covers many areas, from basic body movements for young children to training on self-feeding after an injury or disability. They even provide therapies focused on emotional delays children can develop.

“We’re passionate about clinical education,” Sharon Lyttle said.

When it comes to their clinical rotation program, Lyttle said Nashville State students are some of the best. “Their skills are really high...they’re very well clinically trained,” Lyttle said.

“Our main goal is to expose students to all aspects of therapy,” Sesnan said. “We pride ourselves on sending out really great students.”

But, for Sesnan and the rest of the OTA faculty, it is not just the clinical training that separates the OTA program at Nashville State from others.

“We want students to have growth in their personal and professional lives and learn how to balance work and life.” 

2023 graduate Sydney Heath is a testament to this approach. Now working for Lyttle Fox Therapy as a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant, she speaks glowingly of the relationships she made at Nashville State.

“I met a lot of great people there. I still talk to professors,” Heath said. “The OTA program is amazing. All the professors are really helpful...they always led me in the right direction.”

“Our faculty are here to help the students in whatever way they need. We work to provide support for not just their educational goals, but their personal and professional ones as well,” Sesnan said.

 “We establish relationships with our students; we help lead them throughout the time they’re with us.” In addition to the relationships, Heath thinks highly of the clinical rotations she experienced as a student.

“I was very fortunate with my rotations; I got a variety. I was super thankful for that.”

After her rotations, Heath says she knew pediatrics was where she wanted to be. “Pediatrics is my calling. It’s very rewarding seeing kids reach their goals.”

Whether it’s faculty guiding new students to a fruitful career, a business owner employing Nashville State students, or a new graduate who has found her calling in helping children, one thing is clear – they are all living their passion to help others.

While many in life only speak with such passion, the people involved with the Occupational Therapy Assistant program of Nashville State are putting it into practice.

And in their enthusiasm to help others, they serve their community, all while educating the next generation of therapists.