Thanks to all that responded (there were a lot of you!). Included are most
of the replies.
Question:
According to NCOPE: “all residents, regardless of residency track, must
either Give an O & P Awareness Presentation or Volunteer for an O & P
Organization, either Humanitarian or Professional.” Does anyone have any
resources or suggestions regarding where to look for opportunities in
either of these?
Responses:
I just ran a booth at a career fair to fulfill that requirement.
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I’m not sure if they have a camp close to you but, I’m a big fan of
“Getting to Tri.” It’s an adult-ish camp where folks with amputations as
well as other issues can learn to Swim, Bike and Run. It isn’t necessarily
about participating in triathlons, but about getting yourself back out
there.
There is also a lot of “First” camps out there. They introduce folks with
disabilities to different activities. The big one near us is McKeever’s
First Ride, focusing on horseback riding. I know there is a soccer, diving,
and tennis camp.
Good luck.
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Check with your local school district for a career day/fair opportunity;
often charter, private, or magnet schools can also be worth checking for
individual class presentations. Local community colleges also frequently
hold similar events.
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We do career day at elementary schools or volunteer at the local health
fair.
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I’m a resident as well right now. There are many opportunities to
volunteer for O&P organizations. My experience has been that if you reach
out to organizations that you are interested in asking if they need help,
they will find something for you to do. I would suggest contacting some of
the Academy scientific societies such as the Upper Limb Prosthetics Society
or the Lower Limb Prosthetics Society. Contact info can be found at
http://www.oandp.org/membership/societies/. Also, I know that the US
chapter of the ISPO generally has opportunities for residents to volunteer.
Contact info at http://www.usispo.org/. I hope that helps. Let me know
if you have any other questions.
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My guess is plenty of opportunies will present themselves. You might
be interested in AMP-L:
AMP-L is a moderated forum for the discussion of adult amputee and
related issues. This list will serve as a platform for the free
exchange of ideas among amputees and interested others to discuss
matters of mutual interest.
AMP-L was created in December 1995 by fourteen people who wanted a
forum to discuss ideas relevant to amputation. Originally hosted by
the University of Pittsburgh, it moved to the University of
Washington in December 1998.
Be happy to have you subscribe and volunteer to offer advise or
suggestions. There are currently a number of prosthetists who
subscribe. Glad to send additional info.
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I did 2 presentations for an amputee support group. I learned about this
group through some of the PT’s/OT’s that we work with (they are an
excellent resource) For the volunteer requirement, I Googled “adaptive
sports programs” in my area, contacted the director of a group I was
interested in and ended up helping with an adaptive water skiing program
for individuals with spinal cord injuries, CP, etc. It was a blast and I
wished I hadn’t waited until my 4th quarter to start.
—
Many schools have career awareness days, disability week, or similar
opportunities for such a presentation. Boy scout, girl scout, or explorer
groups may also be interested. Another idea would be to contact a parent
group of the MDA, Spina bifida association, SMA, etc. Good luck!
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I finished my residency in prosthetics last November, and I didn’t turn
anything in to actually prove I had fulfilled this requirement. It was a
box that my residency director checked off to say I had completed it. I
don’t know if things have changed at all since last year, and I’m not
telling you to fake this sort of thing, but if you did, I don’t think they
have a way of knowing (the same can be said of your residency paper, I’m
99% certain no one even reads them unless you want them to). That being
said, I did things throughout my residency that would have fulfilled this
requirement anyway: career day talk at a local elementary school, I
volunteered with a paratriathlon camp in Atlanta, and I volunteered with a
camp for kids with amputations. You can also look at things like Challenged
Athlete’s Fund (CAF) or Orthotics and Prosthetics Activities Foundation
(OPAF) because they hold clinics all over the country and may have one near
you sometime.
—
a really fun idea is to visit an elementary school and give a little
presentation to kids. Bring some prostheses to pass around, maybe even a
patient, if willing, to demonstrate.
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I presented at the local amputee support group you could also look for a
high school medical program that would like more information about our field
and do a presentation.
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A career day at any high school or college will work.
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During my residency, I presented to a middle school during disability
awareness week.
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A recent resident gave inservices to local PTs at hospitals about o and p.
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You can do a presentation at a grade school or college for your awareness
presentation. PT or PTA programs are always good sources.
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I did mine at a high school…early exposure
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Some of our past residents have presented to high school career days,
middle school engineering classes and hospital health fairs. I would
contact these places in your area. Good luck!
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So I volunteer fo thr NW Academy chapter which would include Oregon, and I
am a member of the Washington association of prosthetics and orthotics.
I’m a board member for both but I’m sure there would be opportunity for
you to help in either or there may be an Oregon association.
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Some of our past residents have presented to high school career days,
middle school engineering classes and hospital health fairs. I would
contact these places in your area. Good luck!
—
All I did was call up a buddy who teaches (check your facebook buddies for
messages about their students)
Then I grabbed a variety of stuff and went and talked to them about what an
Orthotist/Prosthetist does.
Didn’t find it to be difficult to arrange
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Each year since graduating college I have gone back to my universities
PT/OT Club and presented to them the opportunities that are available in
the O&P field (sort of as another option besides PT/OT to pursue with the
degrees they will likely have). This resulted in at least 2 students
getting hired in my area doing O&P work instead of PT/OT. This will count
as your O&P awareness credit. I used it for mine during residency.
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When I was a resident, I spoke to a local high school about the career and
career path, just because a lot of high schoolers know about physical
therapy, but not our unique field. I also think it was cool for them to see
“samples” of prosthetic legs and learn a little bit about how they stay on,
especially since Oscar Pistorius gets so much international attention.
