There are all sorts of reasons why you might find yourself looking for free OT CEUs.
Sometimes, you might want to try a new CEU platform without committing to a full membership. Or, maybe you just need two or three more hours of CEUs for license renewal.
The cool thing is that there are several free online OT CEUs out there! And, the even cooler part is that there are several “AOTA-Approved” options.
Whether you are looking for free CEUs for pediatrics or adult-rehab, we have you covered.
Below are our top 5 free options!
AOTA-Approved CEUs
Free can sometimes mean sketchy.
So in this list I’m focused on AOTA-Approved options, because this approval means that these CEUs likely meet your specific requirements. AOTA approval is also an indicator that the course should meet the requirements for NBCOT’s professional development units (PDUs).
1. OT Potential Podcast
We’ll start with ours first—because we are clearly biased! 🙂
We’re sharing two of our favorite podcast-based courses from 2022. ❤️
From these courses, you’ll get a taste of the OT Potential Club.
You’ll be able to experience our podcast-based format. And, you’ll see how we combine the most important new research with insights from OT leaders in the field!
When you join below, you’ll get access to:
- A Vision for the Future of OT with Arameh Anvarizadeh (1 hour)
- Cerebral Palsy and OT Evidence with Iona Novak (1 hour)
- 2 CEU Podcast Courses
• “A Vision for the Future of OT”
• “Cerebral Palsy and OT Evidence” - 5-day Access
- Quizzes and Downloadable Certificates
- AOTA Approved
Our two free courses are intended to work for both pediatric OTs and OTs who work with adults.
To earn your certificates of completion, all you have to do is listen to the episodes and pass the post-course quizzes with at least 75%. When you pass the quizzes, you’ll be emailed your course certificates for credit.
2. OccupationalTherapy.com
OccupationalTherapy.com offers a free single CEU course of your choice so you can try the platform before you commit to joining for a full year. While I prefer MedBridge Education for my own unlimited CEU needs, OccupationalTherapy.com also has a nice, if smaller, selection of courses.
3. Saebo
Saebo offers nine self-paced courses related to upper extremity (UE) recovery. The courses are pretty focused on the Saebo products, but a few are geared toward general UE rehab.
4. Wild Iris
Wild Iris Medical Education is an online continuing education company known for its super low-cost CEU options that are approved by AOTA and NBCOT. Along with affordable courses, they’re currently offering a free COVID-19 course titled The Impact of a Pandemic on Mental Health, which is definitely worth checking out.
5. NBCOT Navigator
The NBCOT Navigator is kind of in its own category because it is not AOTA-Approved, but since it was created by our national registration agency, it carries with it a high level of credibility.
If you’re certified through NBCOT as an OTR or COTA, you have free access to the NBCOT Navigator, which comes with case simulations, management challenges, practice quizzes, and other tools designed to improve your practice.
You can gain up to 14 “competency assessment units” per renewal period by using this platform. You’ll need to check with your state to see if these free courses count toward your license.
See the states that accept the Navigator for license renewal.
Other free online OT CEU courses
We’ve gone over various free AOTA-Approved courses, and we’ve covered the NBCOT Navigator.
There are other free CEU options that come and go. The caveat is that these are offered by various organizations that may or may not be recognized by your state. It’s definitely wise to check with your state licensing board before counting on these CEUs to help you renew your license.
(Also, I had taken AOTA’s free webinars out of my list, because they kept shifting around. But I did find these free AOTA webinars on COVID-19!)
Cheap Occupational Therapy CEUs
If you are looking for just a couple CEUs and want to pay for them out of pocket. The biggest library of inexpensive individual courses is CE Broker. We offer all of our courses there for just $13 per course.
These courses from CE Broker are currently only available for purchase in 8 states (Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee). With that said, keep an eye out for more options coming online in the future.
Of course, if you are interested in more than one, it quickly becomes financially savvy to just buy the OT Potential Club membership for $89!
- OT & Smart Home Tech Adoption with Carol Chiang
- Anti-racist OT Praxis with Khalilah R. Johnson and Ryan Lavalley
- Racism and Occupation with Ryan Lavalley and Khalilah R. Johnson
- OT and Social Determinants of Health with Joy Doll
- Participation-focused Knowledge Translation in Pediatric OT with Satvika Garg
- Pediatric TBI and OT with Nelson Gonzalez
- OT and Falls Prevention with Pooja Patel
- OT Hand Therapy Interventions with Hoang Tran
- Telehealth, Parent Alliance, and OT with Adam Griffin
- Early Intervention for Motor Performance with Sarah Putt
- OT Supports for Sensory Processing Differences: A Conversation on the Evidence
- Virtual Reality and OT with Christopher Gaskins
- Trends in Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal OT with Winnie Tsui
- OT for Hand Burns with Jody Sabel
- Lifestyle Medicine and OT with Ryan Osal
- CIMT and OT with Catherine Hoyt
- School-based OT Workload Trends
- The Value of Acute and Postacute OT
- Cerebral Palsy and OT Evidence
- Beyond Cultural Competence in OT
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Pain, and OT
- Parkinson’s Disease Evidence Review
- The CORE Approach for Inclusive OT
- OT for Spinal Cord Injury
- Pediatric OT Evidence Review
- Payment Models in Post-Acute OT
- Mindfulness, Chronic Pain, and OT
- Maternal Mental Health and OT
- Collaboration and the Kawa Model
- A Vision for the Future of OT
- The Research Behind the CO-OP Approach
- Pelvic Health & OT
- Client Centered Care, Psychosis, and OT
- Hospital at Home: Imagining new models of OT delivery
- Beyond Individualism: Ethical considerations for OTs
- OT for Adults with Cancer
- Nature-based OT
- Disparities in Supports for Autism in Latino Families
- Brain Computer Interfaces and OT
- The Services Cliff and Autism
- Beyond Occupational Injustice
- Relationship-based OT Care
- Rheumatoid Arthritis and OT: Evidence and Discussion
- Understanding Sensory Function in Autism
- Self-Advocacy in OT (Being Self-Assured in Uncertain Times)
- Supporting Informal Caregivers of People with Dementia
- POTS & COVID-19 Long Haulers
- OT Education During a Pandemic
- Supporting Adults on the Spectrum
- COVID-19 and OT: Evidence and Discussion
- Postconcussion Syndrome and OT
- OT, eHealth, and Participatory Medicine
- Self-management for Stroke
Conclusion
Sometimes, free OT CEUs are exactly what you need. Luckily, as you can see from this article, there are some great options out there for the financially savvy therapist looking to learn without breaking the bank!
(If you’re a skimmer and skipped to the bottom, I’d love to invite you to try out the OT Potential Club by taking these 2 FREE AOTA-approved CEU podcast courses. That’s right—earn professional credit while you listen!)
7 replies on “Free OT CEUs (AOTA-Approved)”
Hi Sarah,
I checked many of these and the info provided is incorrect. For instance, nurse.com offers no free CEs for OTs. Deborah Davidson is not found on the site.
Oh no!! I’m sorry for this terrible reader experience!! I just did a major overhaul of this article, and took out all of the "fly by night" options. I’m also going to add this article to my list of ones that I monitor and update regularly, as I learned over the past year, that there tends to be quite a bit of change in this arena. Again, though, I am sorry for that you found out of date information!
I found Deborah Davidson’s course (googled it), did it, took the test, aced it and then there was no certificate/mention of CEUs. Had trouble finding free CEU’s on other sites mentioned as well. Parkinson’s course says on the sign up page "Occupational Therapy Course (without CEUs)." I believe for the AOTA’s free CEU Webinars, it’s a benefit of membership – directs you to a members only login page. Was worth the try. Thanks!
Oh no! Jo, your message was so nice, even though you went through all that work to find and take that course! If you get this message, I would love it if you would contact me either via my chat box or contact page. I’m sorry that the information you found was out-dated!
Online there are four modules available for OTs through the Huntington’s Disease Society of American (HDSA) and the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) which provide continuing education credit for participants. These are available on AOTA’s website for members and non-members. Scroll down to "M" and look for Module 1 – 4.
https://www.aota.org/Education-Careers/Continuing-Education/AOTACE/Online
Thank you for sharing these resources. It is really nice to break the bank while getting your CEUs.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for posting the options for some free CEUs. I wanted to share that I have been viewing the Parkinsons Foundation Expert Briefing webinar series. The 2020/2021 series is about to begin again. Feb 9 ,2021 is the first webinar and the speaker is Lisa Warren an OTR and Michael S. Okun, M.D. https://www.parkinson.org/Living-with-Parkinsons/Resources-and-Support/PD-ExpertBriefings-Webinars
Also, the American Society of the Aging has been hosting a variety of free webinars with different partners. They do not all offer CEUs for OT, however you just need to go through the offerings and see which include OT in the CEUs.
I think some of the free classes need to be seen live or you miss it sometimes. Thanks for sharing all of the above. So glad I came across this page and your facebook job seeker page!
Megan, OTR