Review of Entry-Level Education

Nearly 14 years after the last critical assessment of entry-level O&P education, the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) and the Academy brought more than 30 educators, researchers and practitioners together in April 2005 to forecast how O&P practices might evolve in the future. Current entry-level stakeholders and other Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) identified core competencies and the educational approaches that will best teach those essential skills to new entrants into the field. This led to discussions centering on a revised curriculum for O&P education with an increased emphasis on critical analysis of available research to foster evidence-based practice. Consensus was reached among the conference participants that the entry-level education for O&P students should transition to a master's level by 2010. To read the complete short- and long-term recommendations NCOPE is now considering, read the Education Summit report (PDF - 429KB).

In Year III, the Academy continued to partner with NCOPE to convene a series of conferences to develop a master's level curriculum guide to coincide with the movement to transition the entry-level education to a master's level by the year 2010. Three meetings were conducted from August to October to focus on this important effort. This work demonstrates the Academy's continuing efforts to support NCOPE in the rapid adoption of new outcome-based standards for O&P education at the practitioner level.

Current entry-level stakeholders and other SMEs identified core competencies and the educational approaches that will best teach those essential skills to new entrants in the field, leading to a revised curriculum for O&P education with increased emphasis on critical analysis of available research to foster evidence-based clinical practice. The core curriculum guide draft contains the content and prerequisite education requirements that a program must meet or exceed. The professional curriculum content requirements are written as expected student outcomes. Faculty is responsible for developing learning activities and evaluation methods to document that students meet these outcomes.

In Year IV, the Academy continued to partner with the National Commission on Orthotic & Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) to convene a series of meetings to assess and review the changes that will be needed in the residency program and process as we move forward with implementing primary education at the master's level. The meetings provided the opportunity to look to the future to identify new aspects that should be added to the residency as well as areas that should be modify or even removed. The meetings were conducted in Chicago June 2007 and January and April 2008. This report from the Residency Outcome Committee summarizes the discussions.


These projects have been funded by a grant from the United States Department of Education Special Demonstration Programs—Projects for Orthotic and Prosthetic Research. The purpose of this program is to provide funding in response to the Department of Education Appropriations Act for one or more projects designed to improve the quality of applied orthotic and prosthetic research and to help meet the increasing demand for provider services.
Grant Year One Award Details
Grant Year Two Award Details
Grant Year Three Award Details
Grant Year Four Award Details