Can There Be Too Many PhDs in O&P?

As more O&P professionals begin assessing the potential value of a doctoral degree, some experts question if the “more is better” adage applies here. Although only an estimated three dozen people globally hold O&P-focused PhDs, could developing an increased population of clinicians with greater knowledge and skills actually be a bad idea?

Lee Childers, PhD, CP, senior scientist, Extremity Trauma and Amputation Center of Excellence (EACE), Military Performance Lab, Center for the Intrepid, Brooke Army Medical Center, believes that he may have been the 11th or 12th prosthetist to earn a doctoral degree, but has seen an increasing number of O&P-focused doctorate holders recently. Although such growth is exciting, he also considers a potentially negative aspect.