February 2007 • Vol. 3, No. 1
	Advancing Orthotic and Prosthetic Care Through Knowledge

A Report on Ongoing Efforts to Advance the O&P Profession

The Academy’s U.S. Department of Education grant programming has entered its fourth year. The areas of focus remain awareness, education, and research to help advance the O&P profession. Following are some examples of the ongoing work and what we have found.

Using the Academy’s geographic map you can review the ratios of certified practitioners to potential O&P demands in your state and elsewhere in the United States. These results established important baseline data for future planning and identified areas where a qualified provider shortage is most acute.

While year I grant activities identified the ratio of practitioners to Medicare-based demands for each of the states, year II efforts identified and studied metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) within the U.S. with the greatest need for O&P services. Year II used the same baseline data, but by using the MSA breakdown, it allowed the analysis to cross state lines to better identify metro areas that may be underserved. For example, small states like Delaware or Rhode Island may initially appear to be inadequately served, but with the MSA analysis, it was evident that practitioners who reside in a neighboring state may provide care. The MSA analysis confirmed the same states as being underserved while highlighting the specific underserved areas within each of the 50 states. Year II findings will be formally presented at the Academy’s 2007 Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California, March 21–24.

Year III efforts are focused on identifying the underlying attributes and characteristics that may influence the differences between demand for O&P services and the ability to meet them.

Work on the Academy’s strategic plan for an advanced degree is focused on training the future scientists and academic leaders in the field. As a result of year II’s O&P Education Summit that the Academy held in conjunction with NCOPE, it was decided that the entry-level practitioner education should shift to a master’s level by the year 2010. Armed with this information, a group of academicians and other subject-matter experts gathered in Chicago, Illinois, in December 2006 to develop basic cost estimates that would allow current O&P faculty to advance their education. Once these basic estimates can be determined, the grant team will pursue funding opportunities to meet these needs.

Also in December 2006, subject-matter experts gathered to develop a Research 101 curriculum under the master agenda grant program heading. Led by Mark Geil, PhD, these experts worked on a curriculum and delivery method to help make practitioners better consumers of O&P research. The courses will provide practitioners with the knowledge they need to search the current literature, understand the peer-reviewed publishing process, study designs, classifications, and elements of a peer-reviewed manuscript, and evaluate and assess manuscripts. All the courses are being developed in response to the demands for O&P professionals to better understand evidence-based medicine.

The next in the series of State-of-the-Science Conferences (SSCs) is slated for the spring of 2007. The topic will be “Partial Foot Amputations.” The SSCs’ findings led to the development of online professional continuing education (PCE) courses. Courses based on SSCs #6 (Prosthetic Outcomes) and #7 (KAFOs) will be available in early 2007 through the Academy's OLC.

The entry-level education program continues to move forward. Grant year III has focused on developing a curriculum guide for the master’s program. Meetings were held throughout 2006 (June, August, and October), and educators will again gather this month in Dallas, Texas, to finalize the curriculum.

For updated reports on the grant and its findings, visit the Academy's grants page.