We asked, “What do you remember as being some of the best advice you received while getting your O&P training?” Thirty-seven percent said to take advantage of all leads; 26 percent said keeping in touch with classmates was most important; 21 percent said it is best to start searching early for a place to complete a residency; and the rest chose other.
One prosthetist/orthotist in training advised that interviewing for a residency works both ways. “When you go on a residency interview, you also need to interview them,” he wrote. “Your residency will be part of your career foundation, so take the time to find the one that matches you.”
A CPO mentioned central fabrication. “Do the hard work to learn how to fab,” he wrote. “You can always have a tech do it or send it to a c-fab, but the best practitioners know all the ins and outs of fab and can make better/more informed decisions.”
Though the biggest response to last week’s poll question, “What other city would you like to see the Academy meeting take place?” was Denver, (58 percent), some said a great host city would be Cleveland.
“Cleveland would be a perfect city, huge nightlife, great hotels, perfect travel airport with reasonable flight rates, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and a lakefront city.” wrote the vice president of Yanke Bionics, headquartered in the Buckeye State. “We need to make it happen, tired of paying top tiered hotel room and flights.”
One respondent said, “Anywhere that does not create a financial hardship for the local state O&P association or AAOP chapter. If the goal of the Academy Meeting & Symposium is to generate revenue to run the AAOP then…it is important to be considerate of state O&P and AAOP chapters whose only revenue source is their yearly meeting.”
Eighteen percent chose Seattle as the best option, and a few suggested New Orleans or Scottsdale, Arizona.
“Bring it back to NOLA,” said the director of clinical O&P at Louisiana Rehab Products. “We missed the last one.” Eight percent thought it would be fun to hold the event outside the United States.
In the March issue of The O&P EDGE, an article highlights the importance of hand skills. A common criticism of recent O&P graduates and the schools that train them is that novice clinicians lack hand skills. Our question for the latest opportunity to hear your thoughts—What should be done to improve those skills?—is up and in full swing.
Tell us what you think. We’d love to hear from you.
