Director/Mentor Eligibility, Roles and Responsibilities

A person is eligible to serve as the director for an NCOPE accredited residency program when the following requirements are met:

• Must possess a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in O&P, post baccalaureate certificate in orthotics and/or prosthetics or a master’s in O&P or be equivalent to ISPO Orthotist/Prosthetist (for residency directors who were active on or before March 15, 2011, the director is exempt from this educational standard)
• Be credentialed in the profession of Orthotics & Prosthetics or hold a professional license as is required to practice independently by the state in which he/she is employed
• Must have five years post certification or licensure experience
• Must have completed the required modules (I, II, III) of the NCOPE Online Residency Development Course or the Approved Clinical Mentor Course (ACM)
• Cannot be a currently registered resident

A person is eligible to serve as a mentor for an NCOPE accredited residency program when the following requirements are met:

• Must possess a state license, national certification, or international recognition as an orthotist/prosthetist
• Must have successfully completed formalized orthotic/prosthetic education from a CAAHEP accredited program, a former O&P accredited education in the area supervision is being provided or be equivalent to ISPO Orthotist/Prosthetist
• Must have three years post certification or licensure experience
• Must be principally located at the residency training site
• Must have completed the required modules (II, III) of the NCOPE Online Residency Development Course or the Approved Clinical Mentor Course (ACM)
• Cannot be a currently registered resident

• Duration of the resident’s training program.
• Expected weekly hours of resident’s attendance including on-call duties when applicable.
• The resident’s compensation, which cannot be contingent upon productivity of the resident.
• The resident’s health, professional and leave benefits.
• The resident’s professional liability protection for both internal and external clinical settings.
• Requirements for residency completion and awarding of certificate.
  • A residency program must at minimum meet the Standards for Accreditation for the Orthotic/Prosthetic Residency Training Program, but reserves the right to define goals and objectives beyond what is defined by the standards.  
• Any non-compete or other legal agreements must be completed prior to the start of the residency program.
  • NCOPE’s Position Statement on Non-Compete Agreements: NCOPE Position Statements

• Patient care provided by the resident and the mentor must be consistent with current clinical care guidelines and accepted standards of practice which are established through accreditation of the practice.
• The resident must be given progressively increasing responsibility in the delivery of patient
  care services based upon demonstrated clinical competence.
• The resident must not transition to indirect supervision until they have been deemed competent for the specific procedure they are performing using the competency forms with NCOPE Tracker.

• All patient interactions equal to or greater than 15 minutes in duration must be logged by the resident over the entire duration of the residency.
• Case entries must be performed no more than 2 weeks after the patient interaction occurs.
• All fields are required with the exception of:
  • Outcome Measures
  • Patient Goals

The above 2 fields only need to be completed when it is part of the patient encounter.

• NCOPE Tracker Information: Residency – NCOPE Tracker
• Director / Mentor login for NCOPE Tracker: https://ncopetracker.org/admin 

• The following forms can be submitted using NCOPE Tracker
  • Quarterly Evaluation of the Resident

• The following forms can be submitted using NCOPE Tracker
  • NCOPE/CAAHEP Education Program Employer Survey – Any time during the residency
  • Final Evaluation of the Resident – Within 2 weeks of the end of the residency
  • Orthotic Competency Forms (7 Total) – Once competency is achieved
  • Prosthetic Competency Forms (5 Total) – Once competency is achieved
  • Technical Competency Form – Once competency is achieved

Competence is defined as having sufficient knowledge, judgment and skill to provide appropriate treatment interventions. It does not suggest an expert or mastery level of ability or skills.

• At the conclusion of each form, the individual completing the form has the opportunity to download the completed form in PDF format.
• Copies are also emailed to the resident and their assigned mentor via the following address: ncopetracker@ncope.org.
  • It is the responsibility of the organization to maintain the director / mentors email account to ensure delivery and routing of messaging to the correct folder.  
  • NCOPE cannot support 3rd party technologies including but not limited to GMAIL, EMR systems, or Electronic Scheduling Systems.