Academy Unleashes Powerhouse Programs for O&P

By Miki Fairley

A new era for the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists (AAOP)is what Academy President Don Katz, CO, FAAOP, sees for 2004. With the coming to fruition of a $1 million federal grant, plus the support of the Academy membership and others, six powerhouse programs are underway to benefit the O&P profession. "A highly concentrated effort has been made to evaluate what we need to do as a profession in this country," Katz told the O&P EDGE.

The six programs, under the aegis of the Academy's Project Quantum Leap (PQL), include:

a national awareness and recruitment campaign; a series of conferences to develop a pathway to an advanced degree in O&P; two more Clinical Standards of Practice (CSOP) consensus conferences; a "master agenda" conference on establishing the formats and goals for future CSOP consensus conferences; a geographic assessment of underserved O&P populations; and the development of online continuing education courses based on the findings of CSOP conferences. A progress report is expected at the organization's Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, February 25-28, 2004.

In the past year, the Academy has worked diligently to finalize the US Department of Education grant, working not only with those within its own ranks, but reaching out and partnering with others in an aggressive initiative to achieve funding success, Katz said. Key research investigators are John Michael, MEd, CPO, FAAOP,FISPO, and Doug Smith, MD, of the University of Washington School of Medicine faculty in Seattle. They have been working closely with Katz and Julie G. Hayes, the Academy's director of development and communications. Katz also praised the Academy's Board of Directors and others who have supported the Academy's goals. "We're a very cohesive Board-there's diversity and a variety of opinions, but we're a very motivated group, and over the years, strategic planning meetings have enabled us to stay on a consistent course to accomplish goals that we feel will truly make a positive difference in the profession. This incredibly aggressive timetable of activities would not have been possible to even consider if it weren't for the vision of Academy leadership in recent years and the generous support of countless others."

Since the Department of Education grant is only for one year, efforts are already underway to secure funding for 2005. "The Academy has two goals with regard to funding," said Katz. "The first is to hit the ground running on each of these initiatives; the second is to showcase our accomplishments with each of these objectives so the federal government will see our ability to make concrete, tangible progress, demonstrating that the PQL goals are a very worthwhile investment for our profession."

The funding for 2004 was just finalized in late November, followed by a flurry of follow-up conference calls that led to the almost immediate scheduling of a face to face meeting in Seattle, Katz said. "We accomplished a enormous amount of work in an eight-hour meeting. It's a true pleasure working with professionals like Dr. Smith and John Michael-as we've gotten to know each other so well on an endless number of conference calls for the past several months, we were able to dive right in to the heart of what needs to be accomplished, and within that time frame. Failure is not an option for any of these important initiatives at any level-we all truly view it that way."

Here is more detailed information about each program:

National Awareness & Recruitment Campaign

Some of the activities within the national awareness and recruitment campaign began last year, such as the career website and National O&P Awareness Week. The goal of the campaign is to increase the number of qualified students entering schools and pursuing careers in O&P. As part of the effort, the Academy is working cooperatively with O&P schools, related O&P organizations, allied health groups, O&P consumer organizations, career counselor associations, and a nationwide network of practitioner volunteers to systematically increase students' awareness of careers and schooling in orthotics and prosthetics.

Earlier this year a survey of O&P students in four schools found students need to be made aware of careers in O&P while in high school so that they may better tailor their choice of majors and course selection in college, the Academy noted. "Career counselors have very limited information on the profession and what it takes to become an orthotist/prosthetist," the Academy pointed out. "Arming counselors with information and helping them recognize the traits of an ideal O&P candidate will help them guide interested individuals toward pursuing careers in O&P."

The awareness program also includes student outreach programs, activities to educate career counselors, media programs, a career information website, and partnerships with other organizations such as the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American School Counselor Association (ASCA), the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE), and the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions (NAAHP).

The centerpiece of the awareness program is a partnership with O&P Marketing Solutions' Dennis Oehler and Todd Schaffhauser, former Paralympic track and field champions, who will present programs in high schools and technical schools in states where O&P school programs exist. The sites chosen will be based on the O&P school's existing relationships with local area schools with the goal of delivering the program through a student assembly or science classes. A small exhibit hosted by local O&P manufacturers and suppliers will immediately follow each awareness program. Students will see firsthand how the various devices work and the materials used to create them.

Pathway to an Advanced Degree

"The ever-increasing sophistication of available technology, the burgeoning need for evidence-based practice and the steady increase in the percentage of challenging cases to manage are three trends that support the need to accelerate the development of a more scientific basis for O&P practices," the Academy pointed out. "However, there are very limited opportunities to earn an advanced academic degree in the field.

At present, there is only one program in North America offering a masters degree in orthotics and prosthetic, the Academy noted. It has just accepted the first class of students. No doctoral level O&P programs have ever been offered in this hemisphere. Worldwide, there are only three academic O&P doctoral programs in: Scotland, Australia and Hong Kong.

The Academy will involve individuals who are American Board for Certification in Orthotics & Prosthetics (ABC)-certified practitioners who have earned an academic doctoral degree and experts in graduate education who have experience with advanced degree programs in the health sciences.

Clinical Standards of Practice

The Academy has already hosted two conferences: "Orthotic Treatment of Idiopathic Scoliosis and Scheuermann's Kyphosis" and "Post-Operative Management of the Lower Extremity Amputee." Findings from the scoliosis conference were recently published as a supplement to the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics, and the findings from the second conference are currently in review. "The intent of a CSOP consensus conference is to establish standards to help guide patient care for individuals challenged by diagnoses which can be considered difficult to treat or controversial in nature," the Academy explained. "Consensus conferences can tackle some of the biomechanical considerations of how practitioners approach O&P patient care challenges, with a critical analysis of what is understood to be the outcome of a given approach. The next two CSOPs will likely be on the "Diabetic/Dysvascular Foot" and possibly "Orthotic Treatment of Positional Plagiocephaly." The sequence of topics to be examined will be determined by a conference to set a master agenda.

Master Agenda for O&P Research

The Academy will develop a Master Agenda of priority topics and a method for planning and conducting consensus conferences. "This will give us a list of priority topics and a standard way of defining the focus of the topic, reaching consensus, identifying the gaps in needed research, and disseminating the outcomes of each conference," explained John Michael, MEd, CPO, FISPO, FAAOP, who will oversee the mechanics of this master plan. It will provide conference organizers with planned objectives and standardized outcomes measurements to ensure successful conference programming and evaluation. A proposed list of 15 topics will begin the discussions of need and prioritization.

Documenting Underserved Populations

One activity of Project Quantum Leap will look at where the underserved populations are with respect to O&P care. The Academy will identify the geographical distribution of certified prosthetists/orthotists comparing the availability of qualified practitioners and accredited facilities with the geographic distribution of the U.S. population requiring O&P care. This study will investigate the possible mal-distribution of O&P clinicians and will establish baseline data upon which to base future planning.

Developing Online Continuing Education

The Academy's Board of Directors feels it is important that the information developed as a result of the consensus conferences on Clinical Standards of Practice be widely distributed and the results be transformed into practice through online PCE courses and incorporated into O&P curriculum. The Academy will contract with an accredited O&P school to develop three online continuing education courses based on best practices identified in the conferences. The online courses will be made available to Academy members, students, and others via the Academy website.

Funding for Project Quantum Leap

"Project Quantum Leap is expected to stretch over 15 years and include more than two dozen activity areas," the Academy noted. Timelines and dates for the 2004 activities are currently being scheduled. Initial funding for PQL has come from individual contributions from the O&P field, the Academy, chapters and other O&P organizations, and a grant from the US Department of Education.

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