Orthotists and Prosthetists

Assist patients with disabling conditions of limbs and spine or with partial or total absence of limb by fitting and preparing orthopedic braces or prostheses.

Job Task

• Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
• Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
• Maintain patients' records.
• Publish research findings, and present them at conferences and seminars.
• Research new ways to construct and use orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
• Show and explain orthopedic and prosthetic appliances to healthcare workers.
• Train and supervise orthopedic and prosthetic assistants and technicians, and other support staff.
• Update skills and knowledge by attending conferences and seminars.
• Confer with physicians in order to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic and/or prosthetic devices.
• Construct and fabricate appliances or supervise others who are constructing the appliances.
• Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions, and examination and measurement of patients.
• Examine, interview, and measure patients in order to determine their appliance needs, and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
• Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
• Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
• Make and modify plaster casts of areas that will be fitted with prostheses or orthoses, for use in the device construction process.

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