Orthotists and Prosthetist Design, measure, fit, and adapt orthopedic braces, appliances or prostheses, such as limbs or facial parts for patients with disabling conditions.
Orthotists and Prosthetist is Also Know as
In different settings, Orthotists and Prosthetist is titled as
- Certified Orthotist (CO)
- Certified Pedorthist
- Certified Prosthetist (CP)
- Certified Prosthetist and Orthotist (CPO)
- Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO)
- Licensed Prosthetist and Orthotist (LPO)
- Orthotic Practitioner
- Orthotist
- Prosthetic Practitioner
- Prosthetist
Education and Training of Orthotists and Prosthetist
Orthotists and Prosthetist is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Orthotists and Prosthetist
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education Required for Orthotists and Prosthetist
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Orthotists and Prosthetist
- Bachelor in Orthotist/Prosthetist
- Associate Degree Courses in Orthotist/Prosthetist
- Masters Degree Courses in Orthotist/Prosthetist
- Bachelor in Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitati
- Associate Degree Courses in Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitati
- Masters Degree Courses in Assistive/Augmentative Technology and Rehabilitati
Training Required for Orthotists and Prosthetist
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Orthotists and Prosthetist in different industries are
- Medical Appliance Technicians
- Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric
- Paramedics
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians
- Audiologists
- Prosthodontists
- Podiatrists
- Physical Therapist Assistants
- Physical Therapists
- Orthodontists
- Pediatric Surgeons
- Emergency Medicine Physicians
- Emergency Medical Technicians
- Cardiologists
- Anesthesiologists
- Surgical Assistants
- Surgical Technologists
- Physical Therapist Aides
- Nurse Anesthetists
- Anesthesiologist Assistants
What Do Orthotists and Prosthetist do?
- Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
- Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
- Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
- Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions and examination and measurement of patients.
- Maintain patients' records.
- Make and modify plaster casts of areas to be fitted with prostheses or orthoses to guide the device construction process.
- Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
- Confer with physicians to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
- Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
- Construct and fabricate appliances, or supervise others constructing the appliances.
- Train and supervise support staff, such as orthopedic and prosthetic assistants and technicians.
- Update skills and knowledge by attending conferences and seminars.
- Show and explain orthopedic and prosthetic appliances to healthcare workers.
- Research new ways to construct and use orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
- Publish research findings or present them at conferences and seminars.
Qualities of Good Orthotists and Prosthetist
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
Tools Used by Orthotists and Prosthetist
- Allen wrenches
- Anvils
- Belt sanders
- Bending irons
- Cast cutters
- Cast spreaders
- Circular saws
- Claw hammers
- Computer numerical controlled CNC milling machines
- Deburring tools
- Desktop computers
- Digital calipers
- Digital protractors
- Digital video cameras
- Digitizers
- Dust masks
- Electromyographs EMG
- Force platforms
- Goniometers or arthrometers
- Grinding machines
- Half-round files
- Hand rasps
- Holding tongs
- Industrial sewing machines
- Infrared laboratory ovens
- Laboratory air circulating ovens
- Laptop computers
- Laser levels
- Laser scanners
- Medical examination protective gloves
- Medical measuring tapes
- Personal computers
- Personal digital assistants PDA
- Pipe clamps
- Power buffers
- Power drills
- Power planers
- Power sanders
- Precision rulers
- Pressure transducers
- Revolving punch pliers
- Safety goggles
- Scarpas knives
- Shears
- Single-cut mill saw files
- Surgical masks
- Tablet computers
- Trautman routers
- Tube cutters
- Tube reamers
- Utility knives
- Vacuum molding systems
- Vacuum presses
- Variable speed routers
- Vertical transfer jigs
- Welders
- Workshop bench vises
- Workshop heat guns
- Workshop lathes
Technology Skills required for Orthotists and Prosthetist
- Alibre Design
- American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association CodingPro
- Artsco OrthoPro Complete
- Autodesk AutoCAD
- Computer aided manufacturing CAM software
- Computer graphics software
- Email software
- Futura International O.P.S.
- Gait analysis software
- Gez Bowman THE O&P HUB
- Healthcare common procedure coding system HCPCS
- Infinity CAD Systems AutoSculpt
- Intuit QuickBooks
- MedePresence
- MedEvolve eCeno
- Microsoft Access
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Ohio Willow Wood OMEGA Tracer System
- OPIE Practice Management Suite
- Patient management software
- Polhemus FastSCAN
- Seattle Systems Shapemaker
- Vorum Research Corporation CANFIT-PLUS
- Web browser software