More women seeking fulfilling careers as orthotics and prosthetics technicians

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Stephanie McHenry has a special reason for seeking a career in orthotics and prosthetics — she wears a prosthetic leg. 

She was born without a fibular bone on her left leg and without two toes on her left foot, so she has been in and out of hospitals all her life, having surgeries and being re-fitted with new prostheses. Thanks to her prosthetic leg, McHenry could have a reasonably normal, active life growing up. She played basketball and all the physical games other children played. 

McHenry has always wanted to help children with disabilities similar to hers. She was inspired by many of the doctors and prosthetics technicians who helped her. Now, she’s attending Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee full time, learning to make prosthetics and orthotics for others. 

“In my orthotics and prosthetics class, I just made an orthotic for my right shoe, which is a gratifying feeling,” McHenry said. “After I earn my associate degree here, I hope to work at a hospital like the one where I have been a patient for 18 years.” 

She said the instructors in OSU-Okmulgee’s program do whatever it takes to help students learn. 

While technicians in the orthotics and prosthetics field have been predominantly male, more women than men are enrolling in OSU-Okmulgee’s orthotics and prosthetics program. According to Jerry Wilson, chair of OSU-Okmulgee’s Health and Environmental Technologies Division, this shift from men to women students is not unexpected. 

“Since the field of orthotics and prosthetics requires the caring, nurturing traits that are similar to those of nurses, of which the majority are female, it’s only natural that more women are enrolling in the program,” Wilson said. 

Out of 14 students in the program this semester, 10 are women. 

Wilson added that many of the students currently enrolled developed an interest in having a career in the field because they have had a relative or friend who has had a prosthetic limb or orthotic device. Others entered the program because they toured it and decided it offered the job components that they enjoyed — hands-on skills, working with people and improving the quality of patients’ lives. Some current students have had careers in other fields and are changing careers. 

Diana Thomas took a test on different types of occupations, and the results indicated that she was well-suited for a career in orthotics and prosthetics. She learned of OSU-Okmulgee’s program in orthotics and prosthetics, came to campus and took a tour. She immediately knew it was the program for her, and she started the following fall semester. 

Thomas said she likes the program because it’s high energy and hands-on. 

“I enjoy the orthotics and prosthetics classes at OSU-Okmulgee — I can’t see myself doing anything else. I am so excited to be in this program!” Thomas said.

Thomas will graduate next summer with a double associate degree — one in orthotics and one in prosthetics. She intends to earn a bachelor’s degree in the future, and after she passes the certification exams, she plans to work as a certified prosthetist/orthotist practitioner. 

“Someday, I’d like to open my clinic in Oklahoma,” she said. 

In addition to a full schedule of classes, Thomas serves as the president of the Orthotics and Prosthetics Club on campus. She said the group is working on raising money for several field trips to O&P facilities around the state to help low-income people receive the care they need. 

“The club’s community service project is to help indigent people in the Okmulgee area by providing foot analysis at no cost,” she said. “We will evaluate people with diabetes or other foot pathologies and refer them to a doctor. After they see a doctor and get a prescription for an orthotic or prosthetic device, oftentimes those patients come through the clinic here on campus.”

Living with a quadriplegic and having a cousin who was a bilateral amputee inspired Connie Murray to get a degree in Orthotics and Prosthetics. After a 24-year career as a nurse, Murray wanted a career change but wanted to stay in the medical field. She researched careers online and found that Orthotics and Prosthetics are in the top 25 fastest-growing and highest-paying careers. OSU-Okmulgee offered an associate degree program in Orthotics and Prosthetics near her home in Davis, Oklahoma. 

“As a nurse, I was used to seeing patients who were acutely ill and may have lost a limb,” Murray said. “Now, I want to work with people after they leave the hospital to help them have a high quality of life using a prosthetic or orthotic device.” 

Murray adds that many of the men in her life — her husband, father and brother — have been in the armed services, so she would like to work with the Federal Veterans Administration after she graduates, making orthotics and prosthetics for veterans. 

Maegan Edmonds grew up in Morris, Oklahoma, just a few miles from OSU-Okmulgee. She knew about the university because her fiancé had graduated with a degree from the university. Still, she didn’t think it offered a degree in orthotics and prosthetics until she visited during the Advancing Technology Showcase event. 

“I had always wanted to do something in the medical field, and I grew up with a relative who has a prosthetic leg,” Edmonds said. “I always thought it was so cool because he could do everything the rest of us kids could do. When I came to OSU-Okmulgee and saw all the orthotic and prosthetic demonstrations, I knew it was the career for me.”

Edmonds said now that she’s a student here, she thinks the program is “awesome” and the instructors are “super-nice.” After she earns her degree, she wants to stay in the area and work at a Veterans Administration facility.

A life-changing event made Sandy Northcross decide to go to college. She divorced and, with her children grown, decided it was time to start on a new path in life. A resident of Morris, she had friends who worked at OSU-Okmulgee, so she toured the nursing program and the Orthotics and Prosthetics program. Immediately, she was hooked on pursuing a career she had never considered.

“It was amazing to see how they can take something as complicated as the human body and re-create it using artificial materials,” Northcross said. “To improve someone’s quality of life with an orthotic or prosthetic device is exactly what I want to do with my life. I feel I discovered a ‘jewel’ when I found this program.”  

After earning her associate degree, Northcross hopes to earn a bachelor’s in orthotics and prosthetics and become an ABC-certified practitioner. 

Roye Brown is attending OSU-Okmulgee because her dad learned about the orthotics and prosthetics program here and suggested she apply. From Las Vegas, Brown is happy she’s here because she loves making prosthetics. 

“I love helping people, and I enjoy the hands-on aspects of the job,” Brown said.

Brown said she has known since she was very young that she wanted to enter this field. Her cousin was born without an arm, so she watched his development as he was fitted with a prosthesis and learned to function as a normal child. Brown also said that when she was young, she liked to make prosthetics for her dolls. 

“I remember I would always rip off my Barbie dolls’ legs so I could make prosthetic legs — so it’s natural that I want to do this for a career,” Brown said. 

She hopes to work in the field for a few years and open a facility. 

Tammy Hart, who has lived in Morris and Henryetta, has been an OSU-Okmulgee student in the past and has returned to pursue her passion — helping people live better lives because of orthotics and prosthetics.  

“Years ago, I was a student here at OSU-Okmulgee majoring in Computer Science Technology, then I became ill and left school,” Hart said. “I decided to return to school and go into the medical field. I took a tour of OSU-Okmulgee’s Orthotics and Prosthetics department, where two students told me all about the program. I was so excited about this career field that I returned the next day and enrolled!”

Hart enjoys working with the plaster and helping people have a better life with orthotics and prosthetics. 

“I enjoy the hands-on aspect of being in the medical field,” she said. 

Hart enjoys the work because it fulfills her deep desire to help people. Her son has scoliosis, her grandfather had diabetes, and Tammy herself has worn foot orthotics. 

When Hart graduates, she plans to work in the Okmulgee area to serve the area’s large population of diabetic patients. 

“It will make me very happy to help people benefit from orthotics and prosthetics services,” Hart said.

She said she plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in science. 

Two women — Kim Williams from Augusta, South Carolina, and Myra Rider from Okmulgee — are among the new students who enrolled this current semester.

The orthotics and prosthetics program was restructured in 2006 to become a technician-level degree program. Jerry Wilson, chair of OSU-Okmulgee’s Health and Environmental Technologies Division, was instrumental in revamping the program. 

“This new program will prepare world-class, high-performance technical professionals for the orthotics, prosthetics and pedorthics community,” Wilson said. “Students are developing multiple skill sets, including technician, fitting, and pedorthic fabrication skills.” 

Wilson added that graduates are qualified for jobs in three categories: technician, fitter, or pedorthist.

OSU-Okmulgee first organized its Pedorthic Footwear Technology Program in the mid-1990s after responding to the growing need for Pedorthic services. In 2002, the university initiated a “Registered Assistant” program and, in 2003, became recognized as an accredited program by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education.

Wilson said that employers in the Orthotics and Prosthetics field nationwide seek graduates with multiple skill sets, such as those OSU-Okmulgee’s new program will produce. 

“Employers nationwide have known about our pedorthics program and encouraged us to consider integrating pedorthics into a technician’s program,” Wilson said. “This made perfect sense because we have all the necessary equipment, labs, instructional technology, and faculty to make this happen.”

Keith Crownover came aboard in August 2006 as O&P Programs Director. He has restructured the curriculum and syllabi to reflect a technical-based educational program with the added fitter and Pedorthic educational components.

 “Today’s O&P professionals must be educated and versatile persons, proficient in multiple levels to support the Certified Clinician,” Crownover said.