Education Upgrades

New and enhanced O&P programs are preparing students for O&P clinician and extender positions

By CHRISTINE UMBRELL

NEED TO KNOW

• The O&P education space is evolving, with new opportunities for prospective MSPO students and updated training for pedorthists and O&P assistants. • At the O&P master’s level, Kennesaw State University welcomed its first class of students in August, and Loma

Linda University launched a hybrid MSOP option in June. • The pedorthics program at Francis Tuttle Technology

Center is reshaping its curriculum to comply with more robust standards from CAAHEP. • Oakland University is preparing a program to train O&P assistants in accordance with new CAAHEP standards. • These new educational offerings exemplify the wide array of opportunities for individuals to train for highly skilled positions at O&P patient-care companies.

IT’S BACK-TO-SCHOOL TIME, and changes are happening for several O&P educational programs. As O&P facilities look to hire new clinicians, or to send current staff members for training in O&P care extender positions, faculty at many O&P schools have a lot to share about new programs and enhanced learning opportunities. A deeper look at some of the latest program launches offers insights into how the newest cohorts of students are being educated, and the wide array of opportunities for individuals to train for positions at O&P patient-care companies.

KSU Debuts Master’s Program

In August, Kennesaw State University (KSU) officially welcomed its first class of first-year students to its new master’s program with a white-coat ceremony.

The KSU master’s program was developed after the Georgia Tech O&P program was disbanded, with the last class graduating from that institution in May 2019. When former Georgia Tech Program Director Geza Kogler, PhD, CO, initially learned that master’s program would be cut, he set out to find another home for the program via “transfer of sponsorship”—a process that allows a currently accredited program to move to a new university if it maintains the same director and same curriculum. “I visited in-person several universities,” he says, and found KSU to be a mutually beneficial location—keeping the program within the state of Georgia.

Students in Kennesaw State University’s MSPO Class of 2023 took part in a white coat ceremony before their classes began in August.

Kogler joined KSU in January 2020 as director of the new MSPO program, preparing for the first cohort to join in fall 2021. Final approval to accept students was granted in December 2020—cutting it close for accepting students for the August 2021 start date. The first-year cohort at KSU comprises 24 students—a larger group than was typical at Georgia Tech.

For now, the faculty consists of Kogler and one other instructor. “We’re up and running, and things are looking positive,” he says. The two-person faculty team teaches the required classes to the first-years, supplemented by a vast array of guest lecturers, such as medical doctors and physical therapists. Next summer, the program will hire additional staff to support a second cohort of students.

While the overall curriculum is the same as at Georgia Tech—as required for a transfer of sponsorship—the classes at KSU were designed to encourage students to embrace digital technologies. “The field has to change” to adapt to the evolving healthcare climate, says Kogler. “At KSU, we will integrate new things—we are training our clinicians to be successful 20 years from now,” when practitioners will likely engage in less fabrication. “We are aiming to increase student skills at 3D modeling and CAD/CAM manufacturing, increase students’ problem-solving skills, and prepare students for evidence-based practice.”

Kogler is proud of the launch. “The KSU program is very well funded; we have beautiful labs; the investment is there,” he says. But he remains concerned that other universities could cut their O&P programs, due to the expense involved in hosting the

program and its labs. O&P master’s programs are smaller in size than other programs within health sciences departments at universities, which sometimes results in universities undervaluing their worth. Within O&P, “we don’t have as large a voice as other departments,” he says. Kogler hopes that O&P stakeholders outside of academia recognize the value in the current programs. He believes educational offerings should be expanded and better funded to support the ongoing need for more certified clinicians. “We need to invest Geza Kogler, PhD, CO in the future of the profession—or there will be encroachment from other professions,” he says.

LLU Expands Master’s Program Options

Individuals seeking O&P master’s degrees also can choose from new learning opportunities. Loma Linda University (LLU) in Loma Linda, California, launched a hybrid MSOP option in June.

Traditionally offered as an in-person master’s program, LLU’s new pathway is a two-year, eight-quarter, blended learning program, according to Johannes Schaepper, PhD, CPO, chair of the O&P department. The format is one year online, augmented by a one-day-per-week clinical rotation at an O&P facility of the student’s choice, followed by one year in person. While it is not the only O&P master’s program with an online component, the structure of the LLU program, with an entire year online, is unique.

The hybrid program focuses on providing a “spiral learning approach,” where students who have already earned bachelor’s degrees learn and absorb all essential content online in a mix of synchronous and asynchronous coursework. Then, when they arrive on campus for their second year, students focus on the O&P core projects around actual patients appropriate to their projects. “The hybrid MSOP students repeat, in person, what they conceptually learned online,” explains Schaepper. “In their second year they clinically, technically, and from a patient-management and documentation perspective learn everything again in person.”

In addition, instead of a traditional “mock” exam offered to the students at the end of a program, “this track requires each student to take a clinical-practical, summative O&P review in Quarter 7, and a theoretical summative O&P review in Quarter 8,” he explains. Both summative review courses are part of the students’ grades and required for successful completion of the MSOP degree.

Aileen Kingsley, MSOP, CPO, director of the hybrid MSPO/blended learning program, says that the COVID-19 pandemic that forced some O&P education to temporarily move online “was somewhat of an inspiration” for the new format, which she and Schaepper thoughtfully developed. During the early months of the pandemic, Kingsley had to teach remotely material that had previously been hands-on, and she found innovative ways to effectively and efficiently instruct in the virtual environment. “I realized we could do this on a larger scale and give more students another option for learning” in a streamlined, economical manner. Although the first cohort of hybrid students are only in their first quarter, the roll-out has gone smoothly, and the program is drawing applications for next year, says Kingsley.

“We feel encouraged that online education for O&P in a blended approach can be successful,” adds Schaepper.

LLU also continues to offer its combined BS/MSOP program, which is the only simultaneous undergraduate/ graduate MSOP program in the United States, according to Schaepper. The undergraduate program attracts high school students who already know they want to be clinicians, as well as undergrads in their first two years of

general education (GE) coursework and junior college transfer students. The undergraduate applicants finish simultaneously with a BS in health science and an MSOP—in as little as four-and-a-half years of college. Graduate applicants finish with an MSOP. The nature of this track is a seated program, following the more traditional O&P curriculum, according to Michael Moor, MS, CPO, the BS/ MSOP in-person program director. “The psychosocial aspects of O&P Johannes Schaepper, care and history of disability classes PhD, CPO give the undergraduate students some necessary GE requirements while learning O&P content,” he explains. Another benefit of this track is a full series of courses in biomechatronics, and each student is involved in a start-to-finish research project—from design, IRB approval, data collection, and analysis to write-up and presentation. Undergraduate students transfer 96 quarter GE credits, or 64 semester GE credits, into the program. Students with BS/BA degrees also are welcomed in this track. The program has a rolling admissions process, so students can apply throughout the year, according to Moor.

Students in the pedorthics program at Francis Tuttle Technology Center

With both the hybrid and traditional options available to prospective students, “our goal is to piggyback on each other” and grow the O&P program at LLU, says Schaepper. Because many students are spending one year online, fewer students are working within the program’s expansive lab space at once—“so we have the space to grow” both programs, he says.

Moor encourages O&P clinicians and managers to educate prospective prosthetists and orthotists about the many educational options available—at LLU and other universities. “A lot of our students have told us they wished they knew about our programs earlier,” he says.

Pedorthic Program Adopts New Standards

The O&P master’s programs are not the only O&P education tracks that are undergoing renovation. Pedorthic program content is being overhauled following new standards from CAAHEP adopted in the fourth quarter of 2019. Established NCOPEaccredited programs are required to comply with the new, more robust standards at the time of renewal.

The pedorthics program at Francis Tuttle Technology Center is the first to reshape its curriculum to comply with the new standards, with the program set to switch over to the new requirements in early 2022. The new standards require the program to be two semesters in length and tied to either an associate degree in pedorthics or any other subject and a two-semester certificate course in pedorthics. “We have chosen the two-semester certificate course option for the program at Francis Tuttle Technology Center,” says Joe Young, CPO, program director. To meet the updated requirements, the program is transitioning from a 350-hour program to a 960-hour program, or two semesters, says Young, and features three weeks of on-site work, compared to two weeks under the old curriculum. “This change is not a small one; it has increased the tuition of our program” significantly, and has nearly tripled the seat time.

In a typical year under the old standards, Francis Tuttle would graduate 24 to 28 students, the majority of whom were already working in the industry and financially supported by their employer for tuition, travel, and the 1,000-hour work experience requirement to become certified. “We also enrolled students who had no previous experience in the field and needed to break into the field,” Young adds.

By comparison, the updated pedorthics program focuses on the perspectives of students that are currently employed by the industry and need a convenient way to obtain their education to become certified. “We are working to make a program that can help transition the field from a short-term course to the goal of having an associate of applied science degree in pedorthics,” Young says. “We hope that this will still allow employers to have a supply of new pedorthists, while we transition to the elevated educational requirements.” The new program “dives deeper into patient evaluations and the ability to digest current research than we were able to with the previous shorter program,” says Young. “We are also planning to have live patient models to evaluate and fit during the added week of on-site training.” Francis Tuttle is adding projects that will allow students to practice exchanging ideas and information between professionals and peers.

Joe Young, CPO

The online content has been significantly overhauled and offers a mix of instructional models, with both synchronous and asynchronous components. “We have learned that interactive case studies, videos, accessible curriculum, and open communication lines are important for student success,” explains Young. The synchronous interaction is designed to encourage student engagement “and also keep student retention high, as working through two semesters of online education could be a daunting task with no collaboration.”

Young is excited to debut the new program and help train the next generation of pedorthists, who are in demand. “Pedorthists are very valuable—they treat a large percentage of diabetic patients,” so he hopes that more O&P facilities will consider sending staff members to accredited programs for pedorthic training. “Our school is trying to accommodate students so their education will still fit into their work schedules,” he explains.

Accredited O&P Assistant Program Prepares for Launch

In addition to updating pedorthic program standards, CAAHEP approved the initial set of orthotic/prosthetic assistant standards in late 2019. At present, no assistant program has undergone the CAAHEP accreditation process— but a new program at Oakland University is preparing to do so.

The new program, which will train O&P assistants—individuals who participate in directed O&P care while under the supervision of a certified orthotist or prosthetist—will

launch as part of the exercise science program at Oakland. Students will prepare to perform O&P procedures and related tasks associated with patient care, with the evaluation and formulation of the treatment plan remaining the responsibility of the orthotist or prosthetist. With CAAHEP accreditation expected to be granted soon, according to Daniel J. Goble, PhD, director and associate professor in Oakland’s exercise science program, the first group of students that can participate in Daniel J. Goble, PhD the new program just started their second year of college. “Exercise science students will take their first set of O&P classes in the winter of their sophomore year,” he says.

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Among the three different pathways to completing the O&P assistant program at Oakland, earning a bachelor’s in exercise science, with a specialization in O&P, is the most popular, according to Tamara Treanore, CO, director of O&P assistant studies. Students who follow this path will earn a four-year bachelor’s degree through the program, Treanore says. Other pathways allow more requirements to become certified as an O&P assistant. The new program elevates the role of the O&P assistant as a care extender at O&P facilities, and it also exposes students to working as fitters. Before the accredited requirements were introduced, assistants completed hands-on training and sought attestations from O&P employers, explains Treanore, “but that education was not meeting the standards the field as a whole is being held to,” she says, pointing to the master’s requirement for clinicians. “O&P is becoming more complicated. Treatments are becoming more complex. And clinicians are now working with assistants.”

Including assistant positions at a facility can be an economical business model, so well-trained assistants will grow in demand, says Goble. “Plus, there’s a lack of clinicians out there, so this can help fill the gap” by allowing clinicians to share appropriate tasks with other staff members.

“The field has now identified a better approach to train assistants appropriately,” says Treanore. “Those companies that bring [assistants] on staff can help clinicians get relief on their heavy workloads, and it also expands the number of patients they see.”

Treanore notes that elevating the O&P assistant position through new standards also will advance the O&P profession as a whole. “If you look at the success of the PT assistant position—that’s really changed the physical therapy field,” Treanore says. Growing the O&P assistant program has the potential to similarly elevate O&P within the greater healthcare field.

mature students to complete assistant requirements after having earned other associate degrees, or to minor in an O&P specialization and major in a different area. Students who finish the program will still need to meet ABC

Elevating the Profession to Outside Stakeholders

While there have been tremendous strides in O&P education in recent years, educating individuals outside the O&P profession about the prosthetist/orthotist education track remains a challenge, says Ann Yamane, CO, O&P program director in the University of Washington Department of Rehabilitation Medicine. “Our profession is still not well known to enough people— not enough people know how to go about becoming an orthotist or prosthetist,” she says. “So, we need to make people aware of the O&P master’s programs.” Yamane notes that many of the schools are doing their part to increase awareness by teaching students to work as part of interdisciplinary healthcare teams. “There’s a push in the programs to move from educating students in siloes and embracing an interprofessional education approach,” she says.

Yamane also advocates for increasing diversity of the O&P applicant pool, and for adopting a holistic approach to reviewing applications. “We need to look at the whole person, versus just their grades,” when selecting students for admission. She hopes that schools strive to include curriculum that raises awareness of systemic racism and disparities in healthcare, and “how we can be agents of change.”

One thing that has not changed at the O&P schools over the years is the passion and innovation of both faculty and students, and their dedication to improving lives of O&P patients, Yamane says. “The students we have are really bright, caring, compassionate people,” she says—which bodes well for the future of the profession. Christine Umbrell is a contributing writer and editorial/production associate for O&P Almanac. Reach her at cumbrell@contentcommunicators.com.

Tamara Treanore, CO Ann Yamane, CO