Program Profile Series: Baker College of Flint, Joliet Junior College, and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology

The O&P EDGE continues its series of National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE)-accredited O&P educational programs. This month we feature three programs offering associate degrees in applied science in O&P technology. Baker College of Flint, associate in applied science degree in orthotic/prosthetic technology (OPT) Background Baker College, Flint Township, Michigan, was founded in 1911, and the Flint campus, one of 12, is considered the college's flagship with 3,500 to 4,000 students. Baker has long had an emphasis on career education, so the Orthotic/Prosthetic Technology (OPT) program fits well with the college's history. Craig Smith, CPO, FAAOP, began developing the program in 2001, with input and participation from Wright & Filippis, headquartered in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It received NCOPE accreditation in 2003. Over the last five years, the program has seen more students who begin the program directly out of high school, rather than second-career students, who were often trained as carpenters, machinists, or mechanics, says program coordinator Daniel Minert, MS, CO, AT, ATC. Baker's data shows that 15-20 percent of students advance their O&P technician education to become clinicians. Program Minert, one of two full-time instructors in the program, has been at Baker since 2005 and was named program coordinator in 2009. His duties include overseeing instruction, facilitating laboratory safety and supplies, and admitting students. Dennis Wood, CTP, is the clinical and laboratory coordinator; three part-time instructors-certified technicians, orthotists, or prosthetists-complete the faculty. The two-year program requires one year of general education as a prerequisite. In the final quarter of the first year, students take an introductory O&P course but are not formally admitted to the OPT program, called the professional track, until the beginning of the second year. The student's achievement throughout the first year helps Minert decide admission to the program. Students Minert estimates that about 30 students per year show interest in pursuing the OPT program at the beginning of their first year. It's not unusual for students to have no direct experience working in O&P, says Minert. For example, out of the current class of 17 who are scheduled to graduate in August, only one arrived with fabrication skills. But students often use an O&P device themselves or have a family member who does. Minert notes that over the last five years, the gender split has become nearly even in those interested, as well as those admitted, to the program. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="321"] A student gets hands-on instruction in the lab. Photograph courtesy of the Baker College OPT program.[/caption] Externships begin at the end of the second year, in mid-June, after coursework is complete, and require 120 hours in each discipline. The program has long-established relationships in southeast Michigan, and communicates expectations to the hosting facility as well as to the student about what fabrication tasks should be practiced during the student's time. Aside from private clinics and fabrication facilities, externships are available at the University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor; U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Detroit and Ann Arbor; and Shriners Hospitals for Children - St Louis, Missouri. "We are constantly looking for ways to improve the student's experience," says Minert. "One of the things that we depend on as a program is the input that we get from [O&P] practitioners.... And while we have to adhere to the standards provided to us by NCOPE, we also rely on the advice of the manufacturers and the practitioners as to what is current and appropriate for our students. We give them exposure to as much of the advanced technology and processes as we can." Minert says that with practitioner feedback, Baker can show NCOPE that something is "no longer part of current practice. But we need to provide them that evidence." Baker is one of five O&P education programs benefitting from a grant provided by the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program. "Essentially what we are doing is working on providing career training within these schools as it relates to potential entry points into O&P careers or enhancements to current O&P employees' skills," explains Minert. "We're charged with creating [additional O&P programs] with a view toward getting that curriculum accredited by NCOPE...." Once it's accredited, the curriculum will belong to the U.S. Department of Labor, and it will be open-source content for any school to set up a similar program. Joliet Junior College, associate in applied science degree in OPT Background Joliet Junior College (JJC), Illinois, established in 1901, was the country's first public community college. The first OPT class of five students began the program in 2008. That class is still referred to as OPT Pioneers because "they were brave enough to take the program," says Michael Brncick, CPO, program director. "We weren't accredited at the time, but were hoping for accreditation as we went through the process." In 2005, two years before he began working at JJC, Brncick was a member of an advisory board of practitioners that was looking to start a technician education program in the Chicago, Illinois, area. At the time, he says, "we really needed a college to commit, and JJC was ready to make that commitment." Brncick is currently the primary instructor, with a certified prosthetist/orthotist and a certified orthotist who teach part-time. JJC plans to add another full-time instructor soon. Program Students can complete general education requirements before their formal acceptance into the two-year OPT program, but any student considering the program must take an introduction to O&P course offered in the spring semester. Up to 15 students who take that course may be accepted, for a program maximum of 30 students. In the introductory course, OPT instructors look for students with mechanical skills and academic aptitude. "We look for people who use that right and left brain-people that can use their brain to think about solving problems, and then use their hands to create things to solve those problems," explains Brncick. "That's perfect for the O&P field. We not only treat patients with different orthotic and prosthetic interventions, but sometimes we also have to create those interventions." Before being accepted into the program, every student must complete an interview with Brncick and visit an American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics (ABC)- accredited facility to gather information about what a career in OPT will entail. Brncick also speaks frankly with applicants about the options for technicians. He tells them it is still possible to get on-the-job training as a technician, but that it "pigeonholes" employees because they only learn what their employers want to teach them. "Most [applicants] see the value of accreditation. They see the value of certification," he says. Brncick sees the role of the technician increasing and says that technicians are participating in patient care more frequently. He says that graduates from the JJC OPT program will be "able to help not only on the technical aspects, but also in the clinical aspects.... That's where the technicians are going to take up some of that knowledge base, and the practitioners will be relying more on the technician...." Brncick compares the situation to physicians, who at one time knew the details of every prescribed medication and now rely on pharmacists to help manage the increase in information. Students [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"] Nick Oravec shapes trim lines for a pediatric TLSO project. Photograph courtesy of the JJC OPT program.[/caption] People starting second careers and military veterans have made up the majority of students from the program's beginning. Many students have a background in healthcare and haven't done much mechanical work. "We don't look at their hand skills per se, but we look at their mechanical aptitude. Some people can just figure out how things work," Brncick says. The curriculum includes a skills development course to teach students how to work with metals and plastics as preparation for the fabrication portion of the program. After learning fabrication skills and how to fit and adjust devices, Brncick says that it's common for some OPT students to choose to move onto a fitter course. Two "affiliations" are required, what some programs call internships-one in the summer between the student's first and second year and another in the last semester-and can be spent in central fabrication settings or at O&P clinical practices where students may assist clinicians with adjustments, hospital calls, or seeing patients in the office. "So [students] can get a clinical taste as well," says Brncick. "But the way we train them, they're used to that. They've already taken impressions, they know how to take measurements. They're not afraid to see patients in an office [setting]." Students keep in contact with Brncick and the other students during the affiliations through an online discussion board where they share and discuss their experiences, and they write a paper describing what they've taken away from the experience. "Then we get together at the end of the course, and everybody presents what they've learned," Brncick says. Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, associate in applied science degree in OPT Background Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT), Okmulgee, is located in a rural area 40 miles south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and its students, including those who attend the OPT program, are often first generation college students. The program, which began as a pedorthic education program in the mid-1990s, received NCOPE accreditation in 2004. When Jennifer Block, MS, CPO, was named program director in 2009, 35 percent of the OSUIT OPT students were women, at a time, she says, when the ABC "Practice Analysis of Orthotic and Prosthetic Technicians" showed that just 9 percent of technicians were women. The current OSUIT OPT class consists of nearly 65 percent women, and Block says that other technician programs are also seeing an increase in the number of women in their programs. (Block received an award from the Career Technical Education Equity Council in 2013 for her success in recruiting women to the program.) "In the rural environment where our college is located, there's not a lot of modeling for [women in technical careers]. And so I think most of our success comes from just getting out there and being seen," Block says of her outreach. She believes the OPT program also benefits from the nursing program on campus, because some women who begin the nursing program find they'd like "something a little more hands on and technical and a little less service oriented." Program The three-trimester core curriculum uses a flexible "rolling admission," which allows students to begin the program in any trimester. Five out of the seven foundational courses are offered every trimester, so students who have finished the general education portion of their education can move quickly through the O&P portion. Because each student is at a different place in the curriculum, "it makes for a really dynamic environment," says Block. "[The] students that are just beginning are in classes with students with a high level of expertise, so it raises the performance of all of the students." Along with a small administrative staff, Block says that she and Mike Madden, CPO, LPO, the other OPT faculty member, conduct "a very thorough advisement" for every prospective student. They make sure that each student "tours the lab when classes are in session and has an opportunity to talk with current students, [and] gets advised on all aspects of the field, including the local and nationwide job market; what the pay scale is; what our degree can and cannot do; what the further educational options are; what the financial investment will look like; what the obligations are in terms of internship.... We make sure they get the big picture.... We want to make sure that the students that enroll finish the program." Students The majority of OPT students are in their mid-20s to early 30s, with a range in age from late teens to late 50s. Of the skills students need for a successful career as a technician, Block says, "We can teach them every bit of it. What we need from them is the general ability to learn. We have higher success with students who have good hand skills to begin with, but those hand skills can be a lot of different things. It doesn't have to mean working with tools. It can mean sewing or hand crafts, where you look at a two-dimensional pattern and turn it into a 3D object." [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="300"] Wrangler Chang and Iris Mendez practice thermoforming techniques. Photograph courtesy of the OSUIT OPT program.[/caption] OPT students are required to complete a full-time internship over a 16-week period. Internship opportunities are available throughout the area at private clinics and fabrication facilities, including the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City. Students can also arrange for internships in their home states, and practices occasionally call Block offering to host an intern as well. "There really aren't enough technicians," she says. OSUIT, like Baker College of Flint, is a member of the O&P TAACCCT consortium. "The focus of the grant is on short-term training, so tech schools were...natural choices" to deliver training of two years or less, Block says. The consortium members are beginning to work on new curricula and upgrading facilities. As part of their participation, the OSUIT OPT program will be using grant funds to purchase CAD/CAM equipment and add a manufacturing lab this year. Editor's note: Articles in this series do not constitute an endorsement or recommendation of any program. Programs will be covered in an order determined by the editor, and all NCOPE-accredited O&P master's degree and technician programs will be given the opportunity to be featured. To read about previously featured programs, visit the archives and search for program profile series.

Program Profile Series: Baker College of Flint, Joliet Junior College, and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology

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Program Profile Series: Baker College of Flint, Joliet Junior College, and Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology

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