[SPOKANE, Wash.] --Tucked away in Spokane Falls Community College's building 19 is the only Orthotics and Prosthetics program in the Western United States with the next closest programming options located in Minnesota. After the program’s recent makeover, students can confidently and quickly enter the workforce to help meet the high demands of industry employers.
The O&P Program recently condensed curriculum from a two-year degree to a one-year technician certificate program to help students reach their goals faster.
“What we were finding is that we weren’t keeping up with the demand of the employers that we serve with the two-year program,” said SFCC Orthotics and Prosthetics Technician Faculty Ambrose Cavegn. “We condensed this program down to one year in the interest of making it more affordable for students and to respond to the industry more rapidly.”
During the summer quarter, students will complete a six-week long technical internship at a facility of their choosing. Cavegn said oftentimes, students end up completing their practicums in California, Oregon or Western Washington, receiving job offers and then opting out of the second year.
The curriculum is designed to be a simulated business model, combining hands-on skills students need to start their careers and soft skills all in one year.
Students opting in to the second year of the program will take business related courses that teach digital workflows of Orthotics and Prosthetics using cutting-edge technology.
“The entire second year is new. We’re offering two new pre-certification courses: one in pedorthics and orthotic fitting,” Cavegn said. “This helps further career opportunities for students beyond the technician role because all of these different specialties are in high demand right now.”
Moving forward, Cavengn and his colleagues will be pushing to offer the traditionally in-person program in a hybrid-remote format to give people who already have experience in the field the chance to become certified technicians – a title that isn’t typical in the field.
By making a national certification available to technicians in remote settings, SFCC’s program would showcase a unique ability to collaborate with employers to streamline an education that bolsters the workforce.
“This would be a benefit for the employers because they’d no longer have to send an employee to us for nine months to get their credits. This person can be earning money while earning college level credits that make them eligible for a national certification,” Cavegn said.