Northwestern University Prosthetics-Orthotics Center (NUPOC), Chicago, Illinois, has announced that the Feinberg School of Medicine approved the curriculum for a new master’s degree in prosthetics and orthotics program (MPO). The NUPOC MPO is a 20-month postgraduate degree that offers clinically focused education in a research environment. It is slated to begin in 2012.
According to NUPOC, MPO students will complete their first two quarters online, and after demonstrating proficiency in fundamental concepts, students will attend an on-campus practicum for four quarters (11 months) of supervised clinical education. During the on-campus practicum, MPO students apply their knowledge and develop skills in assessment, design, fitting, and evaluation of trial prostheses and orthoses for educational models who have amputations and other physical disabilities. The final quarter offers students the opportunity to focus on a specialty area before beginning their residency.
