Vol. 7, No.7

September 2002

Academy Expands Pathway to Fellow Designation

At the recommendation of the Education Development Council and a special task force appointed to examine the Fellows Program, the Academy's Board has expanded the program's criteria. Changes were made offering two pathways to achieve or renew the Fellow designation. Fellow status lasts five years after which further professional requirements must be met to maintain the status. To achieve the designation as Fellow of the Academy, members may choose either of these pathways.

Initial Pathway One: complete three Certificate Programs for Professional Development. In addition to completing eight of the ten certificate program modules (including the three core modules), members must now also read journal articles and/or book chapters chosen by the faculty and successfully complete a written quiz.

Initial Pathway Two: complete two certificate programs (meeting the criteria listed above) plus either author an accepted manuscript for the JPO OR contribute to the O&P profession via significant community/volunteer service within the Academy. (The Board has set 40 volunteer hours as the minimum amount, which should be documented by the applicant. It is expected these hours will be spent making significant contributions to the O&P profession such as serving as a committee or society chair.) OR Chair a symposium or instructional course at an Academy Annual Meeting. OR present two presentations at Academy sponsored programs over a five-year period.

Renewal of the designation is also available through one of two pathways.

Renewal Pathway One: Be part of the faculty for a Certificate Program for Professional Development as the primary author of a presentation, determining the selected readings and writing the required examination questions.

Renewal Pathway Two: complete one Certificate Program for Professional Development (meeting the criteria listed above) plus either author an accepted manuscript for the JPO OR contribute to the O&P profession via significant community/volunteer service within the Academy (see criteria above). OR Members may also chair a symposium or instructional course at an Academy Annual Meeting OR make two presentations at Academy sponsored programs over the five-year period OR serve as a Residency Director of an NCOPE approved residency site to meet the renewal requirements. These changes will be affect the fellow class being inducted in March.

Academy to Set Clinical Practice Standards on Post-Operative Amputation Care

The Academy has chosen the topic of its second consensus conference to be held in Dallas February 2003. The conference will document the Clinical Standards of Practice (CSOP) for Post-Operative Amputation Care.

Current protocols with regard to the post-operative care of the amputee are significantly lacking. The use of shrinkers, post-operative prostheses and early fitting devices is dictated by region and surgeon. The current research lends little direction to the efficacy and protocol for such devices. Cause of amputation, training of the surgeon and prosthetist seem to have a large impact on the choice of post-operative care the patient receives with little regard for the outcome potential.

A select group of 12-15 experts expected to be comprised of orthopaedic surgeons, vascular surgeons, ABC-certified prosthetists, psychologists, physical therapists and other members of the rehabilitation team will be invited to the closed conference. Points of consensus, where possible, will be determined on initial evaluation of the patient, prescription criteria, follow-up protocol, recommendations for a team approach to rehabilitation, and identifying psychosocial issues.

The Academy has identified several other topics as priorities for consensus conferences:

• The Orthotic Treatment of Angular and Torsional Deformities of the Lower Extremity in Children

• Transfemoral Socket Design

• The Lower Extremity Orthotic Management of Individuals who are Post-Cerebral Vascular Accident

• Diabetic/Dysvascular Foot

• Advanced Education in O&P

With continued grants supporting a portion of the costs for each conference the Academy expects to produce 3-4 conferences annually as it develops clinical standards of practice for the profession.

Academy Secures First Step in Preventing O&P Funding Cuts for O&P Schools

The chances for the few remaining O&P schools to obtain vital additional funding appear a lot brighter thanks to the concerted efforts of the Academy and letters from its members. The Senate Appropriations Committee took action in late July and passed the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations Bill. The Senate Report accompanying that funding bill was published in the Congressional Record and includes language which will effectively save Orthotic and Prosthetic Long Term Training programs at universities across the country.

"Working with Senator Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education, the Academy was able to secure—and increase—funding by $1 million for O&P schools. These vital resources will enable schools to bring more practitioners into the field to improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of individuals who require orthotic and prosthetic devices," remarked Frank Bostock, CO, FAAOP, President of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists.

The Rehabilitation Services Administration has been dramatically reducing the support that it provides to the nation's orthotic and prosthetic schools through its Long Term Training program over the past few years. This has had the unintended consequence of at least one premier O&P education school discontinuing their program. At the same time, the need for orthotic and prosthetic service is expected to increase by 25 percent for orthotic care and by 47 percent for prosthetic care by 2020, largely the result of an aging population with chronic diseases and associated disabilities. The Rehabilitation Services Administration recently announced its plans to discontinue funding O&P Long Term Training programs altogether. The Academy now plans to work with the House of Representatives to secure similar language in their bill. Senator Harkin's efforts will ensure that 4 schools will receive funding of $250,000 a year to provide long-term training for O&P students.

Ohio Chapter Wrestles With Impact of Licensure on Membership and Bylaws

With the advent of licensure this past year, the Ohio Chapter Board faced a dilemma - how to best serve the membership and the newly licensed practitioners without alienating either group. The decision was made to revise the chapter bylaws in order to accommodate all the states' licensees. The chapter is now in the process of a membership vote on the changes, which will allow licensed practitioners (in addition to ABC-certified practitioners) to be more involved in the chapter. With approval of the bylaw changes the chapter expects to conduct an extensive membership drive next spring.

The Spring Technical Meeting, held at the Columbus Easton Towne Center in April, was once again a success with 59 exhibitors and 324 attendees, the largest of any meeting yet. The Board expects to continue scheduling the spring meetings at Easton as it offers a great weekend retreat for the whole family to enjoy. The chapter's fall business meeting is scheduled for September 28 at the Columbus Wyndham Hotel. The program is still in the planning stages and will likely include a presentation on the Ertle procedure. Information provided by Cynthia A. Wertz, CO.

Transition Choice: 7 Months or 19
Academy’s Membership Year Shifting to July-June Cycle

Soon members will receive renewal notices offering them the option of paying dues for the next 7 months or 19 months as part of a shift in dates for the Academy's Membership Year. The shift, approved by the Board of Directors last year, will have the effect of moving the dues billing cycle to the middle of the year. "Member reaction to the announcement has been very positive," said Tom Gorski, Executive Director. "All the members we've heard from have been very happy that dues will no longer be due right around the holiday period and at the same time other membership organization fees are due."

The Board also announced there would be no dues increase in the foreseeable future. 2003 is the ninth year in a row the Academy has not raised dues. "We look to sources other than dues to increase our revenues," explained Frank H. Bostock, MBA, CO, FAAOP, Academy President. "Not many associations can say they haven't raised dues in nine years."

HOW IT WORKS

Members will receive their Academy dues renewal notice via mail. Inside will be two payment options reflecting prorated dues for a "short" year of 7 months or "extended year" of 19 months. Examples shown below are for Active Members (practitioners) and Affiliate Members whose dues rate is typically $300 ($25 per month). Dues for other categories will be prorated appropriately.

SHORT YEAR - 7 months of membership for $175 (7 X $25) covering the period from December 2002 until July 2003. Members would need to renew their membership for the following 12 months by July 2003.

EXTENDED YEAR - 19 months of membership for $475 (19 X $25) covering the period from December 2002 until July 2004. Members choosing this option would also receive a handy Academy travel mug pictured below.

PAYMENT OPTIONS

Active and Affiliate members choosing the 19 month “extended” year may also opt to spread their payments out via four installments. Use of a credit card is necessary. (Each payment would be one-fourth of the $175 total fee plus a small handling charge or $121.75 per quarter).

Practitioner's Journal
Postcards from Bosnia

Dobar dan Colleagues and Friends:

I have been in Bosnia and Herzegovina for over eight months now for Project HOPE and expect to remain here at least until mid October of this year or possibly even longer. The war damage sustained within this country of 3-1/2 million people is both enormous and breathtaking. I say 3-1/2 million, but that is an estimate as it will be quite some time before accurate figures are available. It is estimated that as many as 200-250,000 were killed during, or as a direct result of the war, which lasted just under four years. At least 30,000 or more remain listed as missing or unaccounted for.

It is also estimated that there are several million unfound landmines, some of which will also certainly be a postscript of horror to any innocent people who inadvertently find them. Upon my arrival here, I was warned not to go hiking or climbing in the countryside or mountains and not to pull my auto onto the road shoulder if I had a tire puncture. Just stop in the roadway and change the tire there as the shoulders were favored places for mines. In my travels throughout the country I am staggered by the total destruction of nearly all factories and saddened to my core by the annihilation of whole villages which are likely never to be rebuilt.

In a country not used to the kind of transience and long distance relocations we often see in the USA, these structures were not just temporary places to reside, but represented a historical reference and home to generations of the same family. In the name of ethnic cleansing, these homes and villages are now eerily quiet, their previous inhabitants either tragic casualties of senseless human extermination or the surviving relatives just too frightened to return. The consequences of these horrors of war and ethnic cleansing have become a constant visual memorial and reminder of the senseless tragedies which occurred here to the more than 20,000 foreign humanitarian and aid workers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is virtually impossible to travel more than a couple of blocks within the city of Sarajevo or a mile outside of the city all the way to any border, in any direction, without witnessing massive war destruction. Strangely, I feel honored to be here providing whatever expertise I can to these gregarious and outgoing people. I have never thought of O&P as a job I had to do, but rather as labor I always enjoyed doing. There is no question, I miss my family, friends and the USA, but I am almost embarrassed to tell you I am enjoying this experience and would not trade it for anything.

Best regards,
Bill Neumann, CPO

(Academy's representative to two committees on International Standards Organization)

JPO Listed on EMBASE

EMBASE, the Excerpta Medica database owned by Elsevier, is a biomedical and pharmacological database that provides access to up-to-date information about medical and drug-related subjects. The database indexes 4,000 serial titles from around the world. Each record contains the full bibliographic citation, indexing terms and codes; 80% of all citations in EMBASE include author-written abstracts.

According to their information, each year approximately 250 journals of potential interest are screened by an editorial committee to review and assess the quality of biomedical publications. Journals selected for review are assessed using the following criteria:

• Scope and subject coverage: journals should cover one or more of the following topics, although journals covering peripheral or related subjects may also be considered. The topics are: drug research, pharmacology, pharmaceutics and toxicology; human medicine, clinical and experimental, including human biology; health policy and management, including pharmacoeconomics; public, occupational and environmental health, and pollution; substance dependence and abuse; psychiatry; forensic medicine; and biotechnology, biomedical engineering and instrumentation.

• Scientific quality and editorial coverage: scientific and editorial quality are important factors for journal assessment. Journals should generally be subject to peer review, although some non peer-reviewed serials (e.g. newsletters, see below) on core topics may also be considered. The inclusion of references with journal articles is also taken into consideration as a quality indicator.

• Language requirements: in principle EMBASE covers journals in all languages, but for journals with articles in languages other than English, English abstracts should generally be present. The appearance and standard of the English abstract contributes to the overall assessment. If the article language is in a non-Roman script, English language titles must be provided.

• Geographic coverage and source of origin: EMBASE aims to provide as broad an international coverage as possible. High quality journals are selected from all countries of publication but, other things being equal, special attention is given to journals from outside the main publishing areas (e.g. the U.S., Canada, Western Europe).

Two years ago the JPO was added to the prestigious Brandon/Hill Selected List of Print Books and Journals in Allied Health. The list, prepared for health sciences librarians, is "intended as a selection guide to be used in a library supporting allied health education programs or allied health personnel in either an academic or health care setting. Jim Campbell, PhD, CO is editor of the JPO.