The National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) accredited the Orthotics & Prosthetics Technical Program and Pre-fabricated Orthotic fitter program at Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology.

NCOPE establishes, maintains and promotes appropriate standards of quality for educational programs in orthotics and prosthetics and provides recognition for programs that meet or exceed its minimum standards. 
 

Keith Crownover, C.P.O., director of OSU Institute of Technology’s Orthotics and Prosthetics program, says the accreditation standard supplies the mechanism by which graduates are able to sit for National credential exams offered by the American Board for Certification. “Within the states that require a license – and Oklahoma is one of those states -- accredited programs meet the standard for an accepted level of education.

Therefore, accredited Orthotic and Prosthetic programs provide the educational means for graduates to obtain licenses within their scope of practice and National credentials.”
 

Students in the university’s orthotic program learn how to design and fabricate custom devices, known as orthoses, to provide care to patients who have disabling conditions of the limbs and spine. In the prosthetic program they learn how to design and fabricate prosthetic devices, known as prostheses, for patients who have partial or total absence of a limb.
 

“The field of health care and the specialty of Orthotics and Prosthetics is one that provides many opportunities and job security throughout the foreseeable future,” says Jerry Wilson, chair of the Health and Environmental Technologies Division, which includes the Orthotics and Prosthetics program.

“In fact, without educated, competent young people entering the Orthotics and Prosthetics field, we face a very real possibility of being unable to take care of those who desperately need care. Currently, there are approximately 185,000 amputations performed every year and approximately 1.3 million amputees in the U.S.”
 

The Orthotics and Prosthetics program is currently accepting admission applications for 2009.

Sharon Smith