Students in the O&P classes of 2026 and 2027 at Salus at Drexel University participated in Disassembly Day, where they took used prosthetic components donated from clinical facilities around the greater Philadelphia area, disassembled, cleaned, sorted, and boxed them to be shipped to a warehouse in Denver. From there, volunteers from the Range of Motion Project will determine which components are shipped to clinics in Ecuador and Guatemala.
“It was a really cool experience,” said Caitlin Steele, who along with classmate Mary-Kate Dennis, traveled to Ecuador this summer on a service trip, about Disassembly Day. “These components were donated by clinics from all around the area, so the entire community played a part in this. It was rewarding to see these components are going to be repurposed and help people walk again.”
Approximately 25 students from the two classes participated in the voluntary event earlier this month.
Disassembly Day provided the perfect opportunity for students to practice identification and classification of prosthetic components, said Virginia Muthard, CPO/L, FAAOP, an assistant professor in the O&P program.
“In preparation for component cataloging, Caitie created spreadsheets into which the students would enter the component information. The groups then worked together as a team to fill in their respective spreadsheets as they disassembled the prostheses and researched each component and its features,” said Muthard. “It served as a great refresher for our second-year students, a great intro to prosthetic components for our first-year students, and a great way for both cohorts to work together.”
“There were several students (at Disassembly Day) who really liked the idea that they could make a difference and make a contribution while still remain stateside because for different reasons, they haven’t yet been able to travel internationally,” said Steele, who also expressed appreciation to the clinicians and practitioners who collected and donated the components for the students to disassemble. “There is definitely interest among the students in continuing the work started here.”
Editor’s note: This story was adapted from materials provided by Salus at Drexel University.
