Dear List:
I have read all of the letters related to the issue of PT’s wanting to
practice orthotics and prosthetics and would like to suggest, with all due
respect, that it is professionally and clinically inappropriate to engage in a
profession as technologically complex as O&P without formal education, testing,
credentialing and licensure. The saying that “you don’t know what you don’t
know” would seem to be applicable in this instance. I do not wish to offend
any of our aspiring PT colleagues, but I must encourage you to stick to what
you know and do best and leave the evaluation, engineering, design,
fabrication and application of any orthotics and prosthetics to those who have been
trained to best provide those services.
Steven Fries, LPO
