Re: Orthopedic Tech

Jonathan Breux

Description

Title:

Re: Orthopedic Tech

Creator:

Jonathan Breux

Date:

7/9/2002

Text:

Dear Mr. Diamond,

It must be nice to have a facility with only skilled workers, (Trained,
registered, certified workers) who all know what they are doing and are
truly motivated to do their all for the patient and the company. Many
companies hire their technicians off the street and have the last off the
street technician train them. They know no anatomy, some have never worked
with tools and some are drop-outs. But...they are cheap.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Breux CO CPed


>From: Bob Diamond < <Email Address Redacted> >
>Reply-To: < <Email Address Redacted> >
>To: Bob Brown < <Email Address Redacted> >
>CC: The Kogans < <Email Address Redacted> >, Jonathan Breux < <Email Address Redacted> >
>Subject: RE: [OANDP-L] Orthopedic Tech
>Date: Thu, 13 Jun 2002 17:43:59 -0500
>
>Dear Mr. Brown:
>
>It seems to me that your are implying that even as a credentialed
>practitioner you would be unable to adequately modify and fabricate an
>orthosis for a patient that you had not seen, even if the cast had been
>taken by another credentialed practitioner. I surely believe, based solely
>on the fact that you are a credentialed practitioner, that you would more
>than qualified and capable to be able to do so.
>
>In the past 19 years I have worked with, trained and had working for me
>many
>technicians who routinely have fabricated everything from AFOs to
>Ischial-weight bearing KAFOs with molded leather lacers, without ever
>having
>seen the patient. These have been fit by a multitude of credentialed
>practitioners, most with minimal adjustments necessary and many receiving
>kudos from the practitioners fitting them.
>
>I appreciate the arduous path that must be followed to attain certification
>and the ongoing educational requirements to maintain it. I am certainly
>glad that most orthoses are being evaluated for and fit by competent,
>credentialed practitioners. This is what I believe many credentialed
>practitioners currently specialize in and what most practitioner education
>courses emphasize. There are a limited number of individuals who have put
>forth the effort to attain this level and their time is best spent in the
>fitting room to accommodate all the patients who are in need of their care.
>
>Technicians are an integral part of the fabrication process and some of
>them
>are more capable of modifying plaster models than some of the credentialed
>practitioners taking the negative casts. This is what they specialize in
>and do on a regular basis. Although they may never see the patient, they
>are hopefully working from a properly delineated and precise representation
>of the patient, as casted by the practitioner. Often a technician is
>required to create a properly fitting orthosis from a less than optimum
>negative cast.
>
>There are far more people in this country who have knowledge and
>capabilities in this field than those who have pursued certification.
>All of us in O & P should be grateful for the advances in knowledge and
>recognition of our field brought about by the certification process and
>those who have worked hard to maintain their certification. I suspect that
>a great number of patients are grateful for the non-certified people in
>this
>field, whether they know it or not, as many of them would be lacking care
>if
>the limited number of certified practitioners spent more of their week on
>the modification bench.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Bob Diamond
>Consultant
>Bracemasters, LLC
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Orthotics and Prosthetics List [mailto:<Email Address Redacted>]On
>Behalf Of Bob Brown
>Sent: Monday, June 10, 2002 8:57 AM
>To: <Email Address Redacted>
>Subject: Re: [OANDP-L] Orthopedic Tech
>
>
>Is it just me or does anyone else wonder why cast modification is not the
>credentialed practitioners interpretation of the evaluation and creation of
>the negative model and therefore his or her responsibility? How can someone
>who hasn't seen the patient be expected to modify the cast?
>
>I am sure I have had techs do modifications from time to time but usually
>on
>copies of existing systems or off the shelf designs. Maybe I have lost pace
>with our current professional practices.
>
>Bob
>````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
>```````````````````````
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Orthotics and Prosthetics List [mailto:<Email Address Redacted>]On
>Behalf Of Jim Butts
>Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 9:28 AM
>To: <Email Address Redacted>
>Subject: [OANDP-L] Orthopedic Tech
>
>
>Members of the list I am looking for Orthopedic tech. I need someone with
>strong fabrication skills, and the ability to modified molds independently.
>A back ground with peds experience would be helpful. Office located in
>Winston Salem North Carolina. The piedmont triad area offers a large
>selection of higher education, arts, culture, and dinning opportunity. We
>are 1 1/2 hours from the mountains and 3 to 4 hours from the beach. North
>Carolina offers four distinct seasons with summer not too hot and winter
>not
>too cold. Please send resume to:
>
>Orthopedic Services
>1900 S Hawthorne Suite 564
>Winston Salem, North Carolina 27103
>336-765-2425 Fax 336-765-8370
>
>Jim Butts
>
>

Citation

Jonathan Breux, “Re: Orthopedic Tech,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 27, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/219321.