Re: Importance of Credentials-why bother!!
Gingras, Ron
Description
Collection
Title:
Re: Importance of Credentials-why bother!!
Creator:
Gingras, Ron
Date:
8/27/2003
Text:
In Florida , we did pass a law that grandfathered persons who had previous
experience however, we did require that they had a minimum of 5 years of
experience and a national certification by a specific date to qualify. If
they had the experience and not the certification they had to take the state
exam to get a license.
It is not a perfect licensure act but it is as stringent as it could be .
There is a grandfathering clause because you are not allowed to
disenfranchise persons who have done a particular job legally for years. In
my opinion this is not only a legal issue but a moral one. You cannot come
into an arena and change the rules for people and then exclude them , you
have to give them an opportunity to come up to standards or find alternative
pathways to achieve higher standards. While we could not make them get the
education that we thought necessary for todays prosthetist's and orthotists.
Which by the way many of us did not have either at the time, the law did
force everyone to get 15 CEU's per discipline and additional training
including Medical errors prevention, CPR , infection control and courses
relating to the law for every licensure renewal date. We did not create this
law to eliminate competition , rather , to raise the bar and protect
patients.
Additionally, while the state allowed for persons who met this requirement
in , at the same time the law did not allow future uneducated individuals
from coming in .This is the fair way and the cost of doing business. It's a
bitter pill for the fundamentalist educational hawk, but it is necessary and
fair to include all.
If you think about it , this is America not China or the old Soviet Union.
You never get anywhere taking things away from anyone . We needed to change
direction as a profession, set higher standards, but, include those who have
practiced in the past, within the law, and bring them with us. We
accomplished this here in Florida while setting up mechanisms that improve
the skills of those individuals. In the meanwhile, changing minimal
standards of education to enter the profession . We did that to the best of
our ability in Florida and in retrospect I am glad it worked out that way.
Ron Gingras LPO,CPO
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may
contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the
designated recipients. If you are not the intended recipient, (or
authorized to receive for the recipient) you are hereby notified that you
have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure,
dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited.
If you have received this communication in error, please destroy all copies
of this communication and any attachments and contact the sender by reply
e-mail or telephone (813) 281-0300.
experience however, we did require that they had a minimum of 5 years of
experience and a national certification by a specific date to qualify. If
they had the experience and not the certification they had to take the state
exam to get a license.
It is not a perfect licensure act but it is as stringent as it could be .
There is a grandfathering clause because you are not allowed to
disenfranchise persons who have done a particular job legally for years. In
my opinion this is not only a legal issue but a moral one. You cannot come
into an arena and change the rules for people and then exclude them , you
have to give them an opportunity to come up to standards or find alternative
pathways to achieve higher standards. While we could not make them get the
education that we thought necessary for todays prosthetist's and orthotists.
Which by the way many of us did not have either at the time, the law did
force everyone to get 15 CEU's per discipline and additional training
including Medical errors prevention, CPR , infection control and courses
relating to the law for every licensure renewal date. We did not create this
law to eliminate competition , rather , to raise the bar and protect
patients.
Additionally, while the state allowed for persons who met this requirement
in , at the same time the law did not allow future uneducated individuals
from coming in .This is the fair way and the cost of doing business. It's a
bitter pill for the fundamentalist educational hawk, but it is necessary and
fair to include all.
If you think about it , this is America not China or the old Soviet Union.
You never get anywhere taking things away from anyone . We needed to change
direction as a profession, set higher standards, but, include those who have
practiced in the past, within the law, and bring them with us. We
accomplished this here in Florida while setting up mechanisms that improve
the skills of those individuals. In the meanwhile, changing minimal
standards of education to enter the profession . We did that to the best of
our ability in Florida and in retrospect I am glad it worked out that way.
Ron Gingras LPO,CPO
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail communication and any attachments may
contain confidential and privileged information for the use of the
designated recipients. If you are not the intended recipient, (or
authorized to receive for the recipient) you are hereby notified that you
have received this communication in error and that any review, disclosure,
dissemination, distribution or copying of it or its contents is prohibited.
If you have received this communication in error, please destroy all copies
of this communication and any attachments and contact the sender by reply
e-mail or telephone (813) 281-0300.
Citation
Gingras, Ron, “Re: Importance of Credentials-why bother!!,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 6, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/221579.
