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

Advancing O&P Education

Earlier this year, O&P educators met to assist the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) with the development of a new master's curriculum guide. Some unresolved issues from the previous meetings remained, such as prerequisites, total hour requirement for master's level education, and the clinical hours required while in the program.

The 18 school representatives addressed these areas in breakout sessions and then returned to the full group to share their discussions and rationale. The resulting recommendation, the O&P Master's Level Education, should prepare the student for entry-level practice in orthotics and prosthetics. The graduate will have the core competencies required to be an autonomous problem solver, with the ability to assess an individual's conditions, functional limitations, and impairments and identify desired outcomes. In addition, the graduate will be able to develop and implement a cost-effective care plan that effectively achieves these outcomes based on accepted evidence-based practice norms.

To thrive in today’s “pay for performance” reimbursement environment, the vast majority of practitioners must be educated consumers of emerging scientific research.

The group also worked to better define the clinical experience—where students can connect curriculum content in the practice setting. The O&P educators felt it was critical not to base it entirely on time but keep it focused on creating value and structure to the clinical experience.

The research components focused on the four Cs: critique, consume, collaborate, and conduct. At the most basic level, students should be able to understand, value, and assess research articles. At the master's level, they should be able to work on data gathering and interpretation under the supervision of a research mentor. True research competency would not be expected until the PhD level.

The curriculum guidelines will be completed in late 2007. Existing schools will work to make this transition possible by 2010.

Evaluating the State of the Science

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February 27–March 1, 2008
Caribe Royale Resort

A multidisciplinary, multinational group of clinical experts met in snowy Chicago, Illinois, in early March to investigate and debate the State of the Science in ambulation after partial foot amputation. The comprehensive structured review of the literature, conducted by Michael Dillon PhD, BPO(Hons), and Margaret Hodge, BPO(Hons), from LaTrobe University, Victoria, Australia, and Stefania Fatone, PhD, BPO(Hons) from Northwestern University, Chicago, identified a number of gait parameters that characterize this population for which there is reasonable scientific evidence. One key finding was that present technology is unable to restore ankle power generation for these patients regardless of the type of orthosis, prosthesis, or footwear modifications provided. The physicians, engineers, and prosthetist-orthotists at this meeting provided insights from their professional experience to help interpret the evidence and its importance for clinical practice. The results will be published as proceedings this year and converted into a self-paced educational module on the Academy's Online Learning Center.

Evidence-Based Practice

To thrive in today's "pay for performance" reimbursement environment, the vast majority of practitioners must be educated consumers of emerging scientific research. As we strive to inform our O&P professionals about how to understand and utilize O&P research, the Academy's grant programs have focused on the development of O&P-specific guidelines and methodologies. Brian Hafner, PhD, of Prosthetics Research Study, Seattle, Washington, presented a summary of the efforts to develop detailed guidelines for the creation of evidence reports, which form the basis of State-of-the-Science Conferences. In conjunction with this effort, Mark Geil, PhD, of Georgia State University, Atlanta, provided an overview of an upcoming continuing education course titled "Evidence Based Practice: Justifying Patient Care" at the Academy's Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California. This session provided participants with the link between evidence-based practice and how it directly affects clinical care.

For updated reports on the grant and its findings, visit www.oandp.org/grants.