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Residency Program Types and Tracks

Residency Program Types

The residency program consists of patient care experiences focused on orthotic management, prosthetic management or a combination of orthotic and prosthetic management.  There are 3 unique residency program types, each of which is defined below.

Select a program type below to learn about program requirements including experiences and competencies

Orthotics (Single Discipline)

The residency program must integrate the following:

  1. The opportunity for the resident to demonstrate competence for the following orthoses:
    • Foot Orthoses (FO)
    • Ankle Foot Orthoses (AFO)
    • Knee Orthoses (KO)
    • Knee Ankle Foot Orthoses (KAFO)
    • Thoraco-lumbo-sacral Orthoses (TLSO)
    • Scoliosis Orthoses
    • Upper Limb Orthoses
  2. The opportunity for the resident to gain the required exposure to the following orthoses:
    • Hip Orthoses (HO)
    • Cervical Orthoses (CO)
    • Wrist Hand Orthoses (WHO)

The residency program must:

  • Be a minimum of 12 months in duration.
  • Provide the resident with a minimum of 37.5 hours per week of orthotic related experiences including: Patient Evaluation/Assessment, Formulation of Treatment Plan, Implementation of Treatment Plan, Follow-Up, Practice Management and Professional/Personal Development.
    • The resident may complete an orthotic residency in 12 months at a minimum of 20 hours per week if they have already completed a prosthetic residency and are a certified prosthetist.  The balance of their time may be spent working independently as a prosthetist.  
Prosthetics (Single Discipline)

The residency program must integrate the opportunity for the resident to demonstrate competence for the following prostheses/interventions:

    • Symes and/or Partial Foot Prostheses
    • Transtibial Prostheses
    • Transfemoral Prostheses
    • Upper Limb Prostheses
    • Post-operative Care

The residency program must:

  • Be a minimum of 12 months in duration.
  • Provide the resident with a minimum of 37.5 hours per week of prosthetic related experiences including: Patient Evaluation/Assessment, Formulation of Treatment Plan, Implementation of Treatment Plan, Follow-Up, Practice Management and Professional/Personal Development.
    • The resident may complete a prosthetic residency in 12 months at a minimum of 20 hours per week if they have already completed a orthotic residency and are a certified orthotist.  The balance of their time may be spent working independently as an orthotist.
Combined Orthotics and Prosthetics (Dual Discipline)

The residency program must integrate the following:

  1. The opportunity for the resident to demonstrate competence for the following orthoses and prostheses/interventions:
    • Foot Orthoses (FO)
    • Ankle Foot Orthoses (AFO)
    • Knee Orthoses (KO)
    • Knee Ankle Foot Orthoses (KAFO)
    • Thoraco-lumbo-sacral Orthoses (TLSO)
    • Scoliosis Orthoses
    • Upper Limb Orthoses
    • Symes and/or Partial Foot Prostheses
    • Transtibial Prostheses
    • Transfemoral Prostheses
    • Upper Limb Prostheses
    • Post-operative Care
  2. The opportunity for the resident to gain the required exposure to the following orthoses:
    • Hip Orthoses (HO)
    • Cervical Orthoses (CO)
    • Wrist Hand Orthoses (WHO)

The residency program must:

  • Be a minimum of 18 months in duration.
  • Provide the resident with a minimum of 37.5 hours per week of orthotic and prosthetic related experiences including: Patient Evaluation/Assessment, Formulation of Treatment Plan, Implementation of Treatment Plan, Follow-Up, Practice Management and Professional/Personal Development.
  • Provide no less than 40% exposure in either discipline.
    • Examples:
      • A resident has a 40 hour work week and spends 20 hours engaged in orthotic care and 20 hours engaged in prosthetic care.
        • Outcome: 50% Orthotic Exposure, 50% Prosthetic Exposure – MEETS Standards
      • A resident has a 40 hour work week and spends 16 hours engaged in orthotic care and 24 hours engaged in prosthetic care.
        • Outcome: 40% Orthotic Exposure, 60% Prosthetic Exposure – MEETS Standards
      • A resident has a 40 hour work week and spends 14 hours engaged in orthotic care and 26 hours engaged in prosthetic care.
        • Outcome: 35% Orthotic Exposure, 65% Prosthetic Exposure – DOES NOT MEET Standards
          • In this scenario, the residency director would need to adjust the resident’s patient care schedule to enable the resident to continue pursuing a combined O&P residency by providing additional orthotic exposure.

Residency Program Tracks

Each residency program type is delivered in combination with either the Clinical or Research and Development track.  The chosen track defines what activities are performed in addition to the patient care required for a specific program type.  

Clinical Track

The Clinical Track Residency is the most commonly completed track.  A Clinical Track Resident performs required quarterly activities designed to apply evidence-based practice and communication skills.

  • Minimum Number of Quarterly Clinical Track Activities by Program Type
    • Orthotics Residency – 4
    • Prosthetics Residency – 4
    • Combined O&P Residency – 6

There are 6 different activities that can be performed by the resident and each activity type may be repeated no more than twice over the course of the residency program (regardless of  type).

  • Critically Assessed Topic (CAT)
  • Journal club presentation
  • Case presentation
  • Professional in-service
  • Presentation at grand rounds, state, regional, national or international meeting

Additional information can be found on the Clinical Track Resources Page.

Research and Development Track

A Research and Development Track resident performs a directed study project that spans the duration of the residency program.  Not all residency sites offer the Research and Development Track.  Quarterly updates are provided by both the resident and mentor to ensure adequate progress is being made towards a final deliverable, which is typically a research manuscript.

Guidelines:

  • Study Design: Multiple study designs are allowed and can be retrospective or prospective in nature.
  • Ethics Board: It is the responsibility of the resident and mentor to pursue an ethics board / institutional review board (IRB) for guidance and approval when necessary.  Informed written consent is a requirement for all human subject studies.
  • Deliverable Items:
    • Quarterly updates must be submitted and provide input on:
      • Topic selection
      • Literature review
      • Study design
      • IRB involvement
      • Subject recruitment (where applicable)
      • Data collect and analysis
      • Drafting of the final deliverable
    • The final project must use a written format that adheres to peer-reviewed manuscript guidelines if publication is being sought.
      • If publication is not being sought for the final written deliverable, the following sections must be included:
        • Abstract
        • Introduction
        • Methods
        • Results
        • Discussion
        • Conclusion
        • References

Additional information can be found on the Research & Development Track Resource Page.