Career in O&P Pt 2
Riley Mcnamara
Description
Collection
Title:
Career in O&P Pt 2
Creator:
Riley Mcnamara
Date:
5/31/2015
Text:
11. Being a technician can be great and pay well but that depends on the
facility. I pay mine very well as I do not want turn over and they are
very productive and creative. I involve them in all aspects of the
fabrication and let them change things on their own as needed. I trust my
guys tremendously.
Don’t waste your time or money on the school program. I have never hired
one school trained person….never will. I look for smart, talented people
who want to be part of the team. Good luck.
12. Hello Riley,
I have been in the field almost 40 years, when I started I attended a
associate degree tech program in the late 70's. It opened job opportunities
for me in the immediate. I had to prove myself initially but it proved to
be a great beginning. Over the years I went from being a technician for
some 4 years to practitioner school. My technical training was invaluable
to me and it gave me confidence that I was doing things correctly with so
many untrained folks trying to show you how they do something.
With all of this said, many of my fellow students never went anywhere with
what they learned. I think it was because they didn’t work hard at learning
all they could. For me I got every drop of knowledge I could from all
instructors, I loved learning more. If you approach school in this way and
have a true desire to learn and a deep desire to help people it is more
than worth your investment. If you are doing it to just jump through hoops
you are wasting your time and money.
Best wishes
Ron
13. Hi Riley,
You might want to contact St. Petersburg College in Florida.
They have a great accredited Technician program and can give you great
information on both the costs of education as well as expected salary
ranges.
Brett Saunders, CPO, FAAOP
14. Riley,
Most technicians are trained on the job and depending on where you live
jobs are more readily available. I am interested in hiring another tech if
you would like to call me I would like to discuss future employment.
15. I don't think the schools would be my first recommendation. Where are
you located.
I called every school recently to hire a technician and only one return
phone call. Seems like they should be more attentive to o&p owners looking
for techs.
16. I personally would hire a person and train him instead of going to
the technician school. You could also find a local central fab in your
area and see about a job before going to a facility. A decent company
would likely hire you if you were not going to jump ship after being
trained. Lots of costs in training, so one needs to make it fair to all
concerned.
Since there are so many variables, I would suggest talking with a few
local facilities first to see their needs.
17. Education such as tech school is not a bad thing. Good technicians can
always find a job. Great technicians do not need one, they just require the
practioners to send the check. Any tech. clinician, or wanna be should be
sponge-like and take every chance to see how someone else is doing things,
even if they are completely wrong. Many times I will set through a course,
lecture, or meeting and it only reinforces my confidence in the process
that we employ. It is like gold mining in that one must sift through a
bunch of dirt to get a speck of gold, nuggets are an exception.
This profession like many others attract people because it is fascinating,
and often like changing. However, I have seen many tech, and MSPO grads who
decide after a few years that this is not for them, and they move to a
completely unrelated field. What a waste! If folks were required to spend a
few years getting hands on technical chops a lot of them would save a ton
of money, and time.
I digress, but the short answer is tech school = good! Apprenticeship =?
There are no set standards for an apprenticeship. Could be awesome or
shitty, flip the coin. Good luck, jim.
18. Riley, in my opinion the technician field is the best area to be in, in
the prosthetic and orthotic field.
The technician school is worth the time and money, if you have the time and
money.!
You get a good basic training, but really what you're getting is book
knowledge and a little bit of hands on experience. It will put you in a
great position to be hired as a technician because at least you have a base
level of knowledge unlike someone walking in off the street. But it's two
years of school!
If you find a job as a technician with no experience, in 2 years you can
learn the same experience and be working in the field while you're gaining
the experience.
Now I love education and I think it's terrific to go to school as a
technician, but right now the field desperately needs technicians who have
good common sense and good hand skills.
Unfortunately for us practitioners , but fortunately for people like you
interested in becoming technicians, we are having to hire inexperienced
people and train them to be technicians.
We desperately need and want technicians with years of experience, but
there's a limited number of them right now. In the last year, we have hired
two inexperienced off the street technician wannabes who have not worked
out well.
Unfortunately in New Hampshire there is no one available, experienced as a
technician, available for hire at all.
We have interviewed a number of people off the street, but no one with the
right combination of hand skills and commonsense and even the desire to
work.
please feel free to call me if you have any questions or want more
information on the subject.
Where are you located?
Thanks again everyone who took the time out to talk to a kid just starting
out!
Riley Mcnamara
facility. I pay mine very well as I do not want turn over and they are
very productive and creative. I involve them in all aspects of the
fabrication and let them change things on their own as needed. I trust my
guys tremendously.
Don’t waste your time or money on the school program. I have never hired
one school trained person….never will. I look for smart, talented people
who want to be part of the team. Good luck.
12. Hello Riley,
I have been in the field almost 40 years, when I started I attended a
associate degree tech program in the late 70's. It opened job opportunities
for me in the immediate. I had to prove myself initially but it proved to
be a great beginning. Over the years I went from being a technician for
some 4 years to practitioner school. My technical training was invaluable
to me and it gave me confidence that I was doing things correctly with so
many untrained folks trying to show you how they do something.
With all of this said, many of my fellow students never went anywhere with
what they learned. I think it was because they didn’t work hard at learning
all they could. For me I got every drop of knowledge I could from all
instructors, I loved learning more. If you approach school in this way and
have a true desire to learn and a deep desire to help people it is more
than worth your investment. If you are doing it to just jump through hoops
you are wasting your time and money.
Best wishes
Ron
13. Hi Riley,
You might want to contact St. Petersburg College in Florida.
They have a great accredited Technician program and can give you great
information on both the costs of education as well as expected salary
ranges.
Brett Saunders, CPO, FAAOP
14. Riley,
Most technicians are trained on the job and depending on where you live
jobs are more readily available. I am interested in hiring another tech if
you would like to call me I would like to discuss future employment.
15. I don't think the schools would be my first recommendation. Where are
you located.
I called every school recently to hire a technician and only one return
phone call. Seems like they should be more attentive to o&p owners looking
for techs.
16. I personally would hire a person and train him instead of going to
the technician school. You could also find a local central fab in your
area and see about a job before going to a facility. A decent company
would likely hire you if you were not going to jump ship after being
trained. Lots of costs in training, so one needs to make it fair to all
concerned.
Since there are so many variables, I would suggest talking with a few
local facilities first to see their needs.
17. Education such as tech school is not a bad thing. Good technicians can
always find a job. Great technicians do not need one, they just require the
practioners to send the check. Any tech. clinician, or wanna be should be
sponge-like and take every chance to see how someone else is doing things,
even if they are completely wrong. Many times I will set through a course,
lecture, or meeting and it only reinforces my confidence in the process
that we employ. It is like gold mining in that one must sift through a
bunch of dirt to get a speck of gold, nuggets are an exception.
This profession like many others attract people because it is fascinating,
and often like changing. However, I have seen many tech, and MSPO grads who
decide after a few years that this is not for them, and they move to a
completely unrelated field. What a waste! If folks were required to spend a
few years getting hands on technical chops a lot of them would save a ton
of money, and time.
I digress, but the short answer is tech school = good! Apprenticeship =?
There are no set standards for an apprenticeship. Could be awesome or
shitty, flip the coin. Good luck, jim.
18. Riley, in my opinion the technician field is the best area to be in, in
the prosthetic and orthotic field.
The technician school is worth the time and money, if you have the time and
money.!
You get a good basic training, but really what you're getting is book
knowledge and a little bit of hands on experience. It will put you in a
great position to be hired as a technician because at least you have a base
level of knowledge unlike someone walking in off the street. But it's two
years of school!
If you find a job as a technician with no experience, in 2 years you can
learn the same experience and be working in the field while you're gaining
the experience.
Now I love education and I think it's terrific to go to school as a
technician, but right now the field desperately needs technicians who have
good common sense and good hand skills.
Unfortunately for us practitioners , but fortunately for people like you
interested in becoming technicians, we are having to hire inexperienced
people and train them to be technicians.
We desperately need and want technicians with years of experience, but
there's a limited number of them right now. In the last year, we have hired
two inexperienced off the street technician wannabes who have not worked
out well.
Unfortunately in New Hampshire there is no one available, experienced as a
technician, available for hire at all.
We have interviewed a number of people off the street, but no one with the
right combination of hand skills and commonsense and even the desire to
work.
please feel free to call me if you have any questions or want more
information on the subject.
Where are you located?
Thanks again everyone who took the time out to talk to a kid just starting
out!
Riley Mcnamara
Citation
Riley Mcnamara, “Career in O&P Pt 2,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 2, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/237408.
