Re: unification--specifically in support of the FL program

Re: unification--specifically in support of the FL program

Jim Rogers, CPO

3/17/2004

Well said Anne. The Florida school, St. Petersburg College, is one of the most impressive institutions to come about excited about P&O education in a long time. They have a fantastic distance learning infrastructure already in place, and they are committed to this process for the betterment of our profession. If we recall the banter several months ago before the recent controversy, many folks spoke of the sacrifice necessary to successfully complete the education/experience pathway to certification. Well... here is the solution. Jump on the train before it leaves the station without you.

Let's not focus on the ulterior motives of those that support the program. Let's celebrate that someone stepped up to the plate and donated money to see this become a reality. The Academy, Hanger you and I, whoever, all should be behind this effort. Donations large or small, will not taint the program's integrity.

We have a lot to do in a short span of time. Right now we need to spend less time talking and more time acting.
My $.02 worth.

Jim Rogers, CPO, FAAOP
--
Reply from Jim Rogers, CPO, FAAOP
> The new school in Florida is not just ABC. It is NCOPE. It is a way to
> attract future practitioners for our field. This Univ has distance learning
> programs and will use these models to create the P&O program. For all the
> people on the list serve who have said that they were unable to leave their
> career to receive a quality education-- this is the way of the future. Our
> BS NCOPE programs are struggling to fill their slots with qualified
> students. How many people in this field have been raised in a mom & pop PO
> business and have the desire to continue in the field but real life makes it
> difficult to achieve their goal at the highest level. I am have heard
> (along with the entire list serve) countless stories of the sacrifices all
> of us ABC practitioners have made to attend a program, complete a residency
> and then pass the exam. I think the exam was harder 10 years ago than it is
> today...is that my sob story. No way. I am a 36 year old female in this

> field I would like to see it continue, my future and hopefully the future of
> one of my sons is tied to this profession. I was blessed enough to live in
> a state where I could attend a P&O program with in-state tuition, I did not
> even have to change towns, just had a long commute. There is no surprise
> that young practitioners are located around our P&O programs, the ones that
> are not home grown O&P are students who were looking for an exciting career
> and happened to live near a program.
> We need new programs like the FL program. I will send my financial support.
> We also need more programs like the GA Masters level program. The GA
> program is creating research oriented O&P practitioners so we can begin to
> fill our own journals with articles written by Orthotist and Prosthetist,
> rather than PTs. Lets build the practitioner of tomorrow and maybe they
> will help teach us all a few things.
> Anne Pare', CO, LO
> UT Southwestern Grad '93
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: R. Pepka < <Email Address Redacted> >

> To: < <Email Address Redacted> >
> Sent: Tuesday, March 16, 2004 8:22 PM
> Subject: [OANDP-L] unification
>
>
> > Luckily I had not yet made my donation to the new ABC P&O school in
> Florida,
> > when all this hit the fan. When ABC gave away my credential I had to
> rethink
> > my support for them, and the pathway they told me was so necessary. All
> of a
> > sudden it not only isn't necessary, you can save time and money and get
> the
> > $75 special. The school in California is housed by Ossur, the program at
> > Newington is ran by Hanger, and after some research, the current funding
> for the
> > new P&O program in Florida, (almost 3/4 of it anyway) donated by, guess
> who,
> > Hanger! Is ABC becoming a corporate entity or just really bad at
> promoting and
> > supporting our professsion.
> >
> > If you read the ABC website you may find it interesting, not only does ABC
> > only charge $75 for my credential, they will also waive annual fees for
> 2004,

> > and not only do you not have to take a test, they waive that fee too!
> Funny
> > they didn't offer to waive my fee for 2004 or my facility fee for 2004,
> did they
> > waive yours? The people who have supported them? Why would that be....
> > I believe it is very clear that ABC has failed as a leader in the field,
> I
> > believe unification is needed for our profession and the only way to
> achieve
> > that is with another entity. Ron Gingras was right on when he called on
> the
> > Academy to step up and be that next unifying body. Time to quit talking
> and
> > start doing. We need to put together a meeting for a viable solution.
> >
> > Paul Weott abcdefghijklmn qrstuvwxyz
> >
> >