East Tennessee State University will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony in June to celebrate the completion of its newly renovated lab space and impending launch of its new Master of Science in Orthotics and Prosthetics (MSOP) Program.
Following notification of its official candidacy status from the National Commission of Orthotic and Prosthetic Education, the university will host the 15th O&P program in the United States and the only program in Tennessee, said Kyle Leister, PhD, CPO, program director/assistant professor in the rehabilitation sciences department.
“We intend to have a 14-student cohort and we hope to accept the first cohort in January [2025],” Leister said.
The other two primary instructors are Chad McCracken, MS, CPO, Tom Karolewski, EdD, CP, and an additional staff member who will serve as a lab manager and lead technician. Leister has a master’s degree in O&P from Northwestern University, a master’s degree in kinesiology from the University of Houston, a doctorate in exercise science from Syracuse University, and eight years of clinical experience treating O&P patients.
The MSOP program will be 24 months long, with the majority of courses being taught on campus. It will be housed in the same building as the physical and occupational therapy programs, which will foster interprofessional collaboration, Leister said. Students will have access to the state-of-the-art, newly renovated, laboratory, machine shop, and learning annex. The assembly lab will house 16 individual workstations and every desk will have the ability to modify, bend, rivet, and laminate with articulating fume scrubbers, pegboard backsplash, and pencil drawer. Activated charcoal scrubbers will remove all volatile organic compounds during gluing or laminating for safe fabrication.
The ribbon-cutting event will be held at 11 a.m. on June 25 at Mountain Home VA Medical Center in Ed Allen Hall, VA Building 2. Leaders in O&P, university leadership, and elected officials are expected to attend.
“We are expecting a large turnout, more than 100 people.” Leister said.
