Background
As technology continues to advance, the use of prosthetics will become more and more common. According to Niman (2013), in the past 23 years, prosthetics have went from placeholders for limbs to functional devices that allow people with amputations to excel at various activities. An example of the advancement in prosthetics can be observed in various types of sports since athletes with prosthetics are able to compete (Niman, 2013). With the increase of people using prosthetics there is also a need for therapists that can aid these individuals after surgery when trying to use and strengthen the functional ability of the limb with the prosthetic. According to Amputee Coalition (2015), the rehabilitation team is there to help the …show more content…
When breaking down the complete problem, there are two minor issues that we want to solve with the help of integrating this class into the PT and OT curriculum. The main problem we want to address with this proposal is the issue that physical and occupational therapy students do not have the chance to work alongside each other in a learning environment before entering fieldwork and the professional workplace. The other area of concern that we hope to address within this proposal includes having a class that allows the PT and OT students to keep up with the constantly advancing technology of prosthetics and learn how to appropriately treat patients with …show more content…
To help train the PT and OT students with equipment they may potentially see in the profession one day, we would need to have both lower extremity and upper extremity prosthetics to help train both the PT and OT students, respectively.
The cost for the equipment needed to help train the PT and OT students will be expensive since the more advanced and practical to assisting an amputee’s daily life, the higher the dollar figure will be. For instance, according to McGimpsey and Bradford (2015), “For $5,000 to $7,000, a patient can get a serviceable below-the-knee prosthesis that allows the user to stand and walk on level ground. By contrast, a $10,000 device will allow the person to become a ‘community walker,’ able to go up and down stairs and to traverse uneven terrain (McGimpsey and Bradford, 2015). With this stark differences in mind, it may be beneficial to have both the $5,000 and $10,000 types of prosthetics available for PT and OT students to work with since they may see a wide spectrum of prosthetics in their professional job. Hopefully, for the sake of saving money, the University of Findlay can get a discount or even donations from medical supply companies since
As technology continues to advance, the use of prosthetics will become more and more common. According to Niman (2013), in the past 23 years, prosthetics have went from placeholders for limbs to functional devices that allow people with amputations to excel at various activities. An example of the advancement in prosthetics can be observed in various types of sports since athletes with prosthetics are able to compete (Niman, 2013). With the increase of people using prosthetics there is also a need for therapists that can aid these individuals after surgery when trying to use and strengthen the functional ability of the limb with the prosthetic. According to Amputee Coalition (2015), the rehabilitation team is there to help the …show more content…
When breaking down the complete problem, there are two minor issues that we want to solve with the help of integrating this class into the PT and OT curriculum. The main problem we want to address with this proposal is the issue that physical and occupational therapy students do not have the chance to work alongside each other in a learning environment before entering fieldwork and the professional workplace. The other area of concern that we hope to address within this proposal includes having a class that allows the PT and OT students to keep up with the constantly advancing technology of prosthetics and learn how to appropriately treat patients with …show more content…
To help train the PT and OT students with equipment they may potentially see in the profession one day, we would need to have both lower extremity and upper extremity prosthetics to help train both the PT and OT students, respectively.
The cost for the equipment needed to help train the PT and OT students will be expensive since the more advanced and practical to assisting an amputee’s daily life, the higher the dollar figure will be. For instance, according to McGimpsey and Bradford (2015), “For $5,000 to $7,000, a patient can get a serviceable below-the-knee prosthesis that allows the user to stand and walk on level ground. By contrast, a $10,000 device will allow the person to become a ‘community walker,’ able to go up and down stairs and to traverse uneven terrain (McGimpsey and Bradford, 2015). With this stark differences in mind, it may be beneficial to have both the $5,000 and $10,000 types of prosthetics available for PT and OT students to work with since they may see a wide spectrum of prosthetics in their professional job. Hopefully, for the sake of saving money, the University of Findlay can get a discount or even donations from medical supply companies since