Residency Site Accreditation

Identify every clinic where residents will train:

• Satellite clinics are owned and operated by the same organization as the primary residency clinic.
• Partner clinics are owned and operated by a different organization. A signed agreement must define each party’s roles and responsibilities. An agreement may not limit access to residency positions, limit a participating clinic’s ability to run its own NCOPE-accredited program, or require a clinic to accept students or residents only from one sponsor or partner.
• Local satellite and partner clinics are within a 50-mile radius of the primary clinic, or a 75-mile radius when both are in a designated rural area. They do not need their own NCOPE accreditation.
• Remote satellite and partner clinics, outside that radius, must hold their own NCOPE residency program accreditation as a primary clinic. Rotations there may not exceed two weeks in a 52-week period unless the resident agrees to a longer placement before accepting the position.
• Integrated residencies use academic partner clinics, which have no distance limit from the sponsoring institution. Integrated programs are not required to identify a primary clinic. Academic partner clinics must meet the facility and supervision requirements in the standards.

A well-rounded residency gives residents access to a wide variety of patient populations and orthoses/prostheses, and to full episodes of care: patient evaluation, formulation of treatment plans, measurement and shape capture, fabrication and guiding the technical team, bench alignment, fitting and delivery, and follow-up and maintenance. Appendix A defines Minimum Activity Volumes (MAVs) so residents have enough repetitions to provide safe and appropriate care.

Define the program’s duration and structure when applying for accreditation. A full-time residency lasts 18 to 36 months, with terms beyond 18 months set in three-month increments. Half-time programs last 36 to 48 months. Sites approved to train in one discipline define at least nine months of training in that discipline as part of the two-site pathway. Changing the approved duration requires NCOPE approval. See Standards 2.2, 2.5 and 3.1 for the requirements that apply to your structure.

Appoint one residency program director, who leads the program. A program may also name up to three associate directors. Directors, associate directors and mentors must each meet all of the following:

• Education: completion of an NCOPE/CAAHEP-accredited orthotist and/or prosthetist program at the bachelor’s, post-baccalaureate certificate or master’s level, or an ISPO-accredited program at the orthotist-prosthetist level (based on WES evaluation). For the education criterion only, directors actively serving as directors on July 1, 2025, qualify under Standard 4.1a.3; mentors actively serving as mentors on that date qualify under Standard 4.3a.3. The other requirements still apply.
• Credential: ABC or BOC certification as an orthotist and/or prosthetist, or a state license where the state has an orthotics and prosthetics licensure act.
• Experience: at least four years of certification or licensure for directors and associate directors; at least two years for mentors.
• NCOPE training within the past three years: the Online Residency Program Development Course or the Approved Clinical Mentor (ACM) course.

Advertisements for the residency program must be clear, accurate and transparent to help applicants make informed decisions. Integrated programs meet the recruitment and selection requirements through their CAAHEP accreditation.

Every OPRESCAS advertisement must include:

• the primary location where training occurs;
• the number of qualified directors and mentors at the site;
• any transportation requirements;
• the program duration;
• the timeline for selecting, hiring and starting residents;
• the benefits offered to residents;
• the criteria used to select residents;
• the site’s contact name, email and/or phone; and
• the director or mentor designated to answer applicants’ questions.

Update the advertisement whenever information changes while it is visible. A site that can’t offer everything needed to complete the residency (for example, prosthetic care) must say so in the advertisement. Don’t advertise a position for a location that isn’t NCOPE-accredited, or a position you lack the funding, resources or intention to fill.

• Confirm the director’s and other users’ access to WebAdMIT Prelaunch and WebAdMIT every year.
• Advertise each position for at least 14 days before selecting a resident.
• Consider everyone who applies, using predetermined objective selection criteria.
• Review all completed or verified applications before extending an offer.
• Extend offers only to applicants who applied through OPRESCAS. NCOPE verifies this when each resident registers.

Appendix C allows two exceptions to the offer requirement: a person employed by the company for at least six months before the residency starts, and a person identified before the program received initial accreditation. To ask about an exemption from using OPRESCAS through a data-sharing agreement, email NCOPE residency staff at residency@ncope.org.

Put the program’s requirements and policies in writing and make them available to every person offered a position and to the directors and mentors. They must cover:

• Supervision: supervision appropriate to the resident’s demonstrated competency and the service provided. Supervision is direct at first, with a qualified mentor or the director in the same building. After the resident has successfully completed at least one quarter (three months) at the residency site, direct supervision may use real-time audio and video at a facility accredited to provide comprehensive O&P patient care and formally recognized by NCOPE as a satellite or partner clinic. Indirect supervision may begin only after the resident’s competency for that service is documented in NCOPE Tracker, with a qualified mentor or director available for immediate consultation. Facility accreditation and state requirements also apply.
• Time away and extensions: the standard allowance is 37 days per 52-week training period, or the greater minimum required by law. Define how excess absence affects training, whether the program can be extended, and salary and benefits during any extension. Standard 2.4 explains how days are counted.
• Duty hours: 37.5 to 60 hours a week for a full-time resident (20 to 30 for half-time), at least 10 hours off between shifts, no more than 12 consecutive hours on duty, and on-call expectations.
• Travel: no more than 100 miles or two hours of driving in a day between clinics, except as Standard 2.5h allows, and a vehicle and travel policy if residents travel during a shift.
• Remediation and discipline, exam leave and exam-fee policy, and transfers (if the site accepts them).
• Raising concerns: the internal process, and NCOPE’s complaint process for concerns that need to go further.

Give applicants invited to interview the duty-hour, completion, benefits, transportation and extension policies in writing, along with any restrictive covenant or nondisclosure agreement. Non-compete agreements must be disclosed and signed before the residency starts.