Hello,
I hope this is the right place to be asking these questions and reaching
out to get some wise advice. Forgive me in advance if this message is long,
but I’ll try my best to keep it short. I’m currently overseas and in the
military, but I have a strong interest in pursuing a career in O&P, mainly
paving my way to be a practitioner. Right now, and possibly for the next 3
years, I may still be overseas and would be unable to complete any sort of
lab/clinical hours. This October I will be starting classes to earn my
Bachelor’s in Business Management. This decision was made for a number of
reasons, but also before I seriously considered looking into O&P as a
career. So, here are my questions that I hope I can have answered:
1. How hard will I be making this for myself getting a degree in something
completely unrelated to this kind of profession and deciding to pursue it
after the fact?
2. Is it common for one to generally start out as a technician and
eventually work their way up as a practitioner? Or are these two very
different career paths in terms of the education, OJT, etc.?
3. Given my scenario (and completing my business degree), what would be the
best approach to reach the end goal of becoming an O&P practitioner?
4. Is it better to just completely abandon my current degree plan and
pursue something in kinesiology/health sciences so that I may be better
prepared for a master’s program and the exams I would need to take?
I appreciate the feedback in advance. Regardless, I may have to put this on
hold for a number of years, but if it is truly better to get my degree in
something else for the time being, or any other certifications that may
better prepare me, I would certainly change pace.
~Ross
