Responses to O&P school question

Responses to O&P school question

David Hendricks, CPO, FAAOP

The question I asked was: A young man in my employ seeks to become a
prosthetist-orthotist. He asked me
what schools teach such a curriculum and I was ashamed to tell him I didn't
know but proud to tell him I knew where to find out. Thanks for the help.
David

The responses were as follows:

Look at <URL Redacted> and then click on accredited schools

Get him to look at this web site; <URL Redacted>
I know Australia is a long way from Lawrenceville, GA., but I hope this is
of some help.
We are about to open the undergraduate degree in a partial online web format.
regards

I just received your email and was wondering if you already have any
addresses but there are several schools offering P&O courses worldwide.( I am
unsure of those in US of A but can give some help with the rest. They can be
found in
the website i-s-p-o.org under the <schools of P&O link>
<URL Redacted>

There are 2 schools in the UK;
a) University of Salford (near Manchester City, England)
b) University of Strathclyde (near Glasgow, Scotland)
There is also a school in Germany and if I'm not mistaken it is in dortmund
Australia Also offers a similar course at http://www.latrobe.edu.au/ncpo/
There are also several schools which offer excellent P&O cat 2 training in
Beijing, China (Chicot), Vietnam & India.

Northwest in Chicago is one of the top schools for this field.

Look in the front of the 2001 AOPA registry. It list all the schools.
Northwestern, Newington, etc...

I would direct him to the following page on the web:
http://www.oandp.com/resources/education/
This should link him up to the main O&P schools in the US


We are starting an entry-level Master's Program in Prosthetics and Orthotics
at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Information can be found on our website at
www.hps.gatech.edu/mspo You also might point your employee to the complete
listing of accredited P&O schools at www.ncope.org.

There are less than a dozen schools in the entire U.S. that offer O&P
programs. The Academy is lobbying Congress and the Dept of Education to
continue the (very modest) funding programs that help keep these programs
going. Three schools offer baccalaureate degrees in O&P, others offer a post
graduate certificate program, and still others have
technician programs. Masters programs are being developed at St. Andrews
University (Iowa), GA Tech, and Eastern Michigan University. Information
about each, along with contact information, can be found on NCOPE's website
at www.ncope.org.

There are three O&P scholarships available from the O&P Education and
Development Fund. The McKeever Scholarship is presented annually to a worthy
candidate(s) enrolled in baccalaureate programs. The Haddon Scholarship is
given to an individual in one of the certificate programs. And the Chagnon
Scholarship is awarded to an individual enrolled in one of the technician
progams. (Information about the scholarships, along with applications, is
being updated and will soon
appear on the NCOPE website as well as the Academy's -- www.oandp.org).

Thanks for encouraging your employee to pursue a career in O&P. The
profession needs more good people entering it. As the Baby Boomer generation
enters retirement the need for O&P care from properly educated practitioners
will grow.


I keep hearing about Masters programs in P&O. Thus far it seems that these
Masters Programs are about business management in the P&O field, but I could
be wrong

These seem like good MBA programs with focus on health care and P&O in
particular, which is valuable.

However, perhaps Masters Programs in P&O should be developed that have a more
technical focus and offer advanced course work for practitioners with
bachelors degrees. You could not only have a curriculum leading toward a
masters degree but also offer advanced (2 week?) courses individually to the
practitioners with a bachelors degree.

I think we need to strive for more depth of understanding in the field and
better texts.

||

That's correct. Bachelor's programs are at Cal State Dominguez Hills, UT
Southwestern, and U. Washington.

||

Of course, if this young man is academically minded and has a good high
school transcript, the fastest way to becoming a practitioner is to go to one
of the undergraduate programs.

He might, however, consider becoming a registered Technician first by
attending Francis Tuttle or one of the other three (maybe now four)
technician programs. There are several advantages: he could be active in
learning something directly related to the field immediately, rather than
spending his first two years completing the basic education courses common to
all college programs - he can also be sure that O&P field is really for him.
He will, of course, take the basic English, History and Government courses
during that time, but will do so at far less expense than if he were at one
of the excellent O&P bachelor degree schools.

Having technician skills and experience will surely enhance his application
to one of these programs, and he would have a means to gain additional
experience in the field while he continues his education, with the added
benefit of being paid for it at the same time!

||

Schools overview attached

VIETCOT VIETCOTVietnamese Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists- 206 -
Africa:Tanzania Training Center for O & Pc/o KCMCP.O.B 8690MoshiTANZANIA
Asia:Cambodian School of ProstheticsCSPOCalmette HospitalPO Box
122MonivongBoulevardPhnom PenhCAMBODIA
China Training Center forOrthopedic Technology25 Xue Yuan Jie101601
YanJiaoBeijing DongCHINA
PIPOSPost Box 751PeshawarPAKISTAN
Vietnamese Training Centre forOrthopedic TechnologyVIETCOT50 Giai PhongSt.IPO
Box 84HanoiVIETNAM
Australia:Monash UniversityREHABTech @ the Centre
ForBiomedicalEngineering,260-294 Kooyong Rd.,Caulfield, Vic.
USTRALIA.3162Australia
National Center for P & OSchool of Human BiosciencesLa
TrobeUniversityBundoora, Victoria, 3083Australia
Central America:ISRI - GTZ - O&P ProgramJefe Mision Tecnica Alemana en
elISRIAv. Irazu
Col. Costa Aptd. Postal 1611San SalvadorEL SALVADOR
Europe:BUFA see Federal School...Federal School
forOrthopedicTechnologySchliepstr. 6 - 844135DortmundGERMANY
NCTEPO see National Centre...National Centre forTraining and Education in P&
ONCTEPOUniv. of Strathclyde
Curran Bldg., 131 St. James Rd.Glasgow G4OLSSCOTLAND

Seattle has a good bachelor program. If he already has a bachelor's degree he
can get it at North Western or the University of Texas. Go to the website of
ABC and they will give you the information for all the programs.

Tell him to contact Robin Seabrook at NCOPE. She will send him some info. He
can also go to www.oandp.com and go to the education link for info an all the
programs.

You can always send him to oandp.com where we have all the schools listed in
the education section of the RESOURCES area.

There is a list of schools in the registry along with addresses, phone #'s
and contact persons.

Northwestern University is the best, both didactically as well as
technically. Take care.

Look in your ABC or Academy registry, the names and address should be in
there.
U. Washington and U. of Texas are the two BS programs I know of offhand, but
there are recently several new Masters level and certificate programs.

the two schools i'm familiar with are the Northwestern program in chicago and
Newington program in Conn. the phone number to Newington where i studied both
O & P is 860-667-5290 ..... they will send you an application or you can
search the web for the Northwestern program

Have him contact the Academy at 703 836 0788.

David Hendricks, CPO, FAAOP
OPTEC, Inc.
Lawrenceville, GA
888.982.8181