It’s been said that America’s favorite color is shiny, and I agree.
Pre-preg is great. Really, it’s a wonderful material—high strength-to-weight ratio, easy to engineer, highly repeatable—but there’s just one problem…it’s ugly! The usual method of using a cloth wick and a breather layer to remove excess resin during the curing process leaves a dull, abrasive [...]
Welcome to the fork in the road—this is when we decide how the future unfolds. Over the past year of working with the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics (ABC), I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the future of technician credentialing, and I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the [...]
In the early days of my career, plastic braces were the wave of the future, and conventional metal orthoses were “old fashioned.” But over the years, I’ve managed to find a lot of value in the rugged simplicity of the conventional metal orthosis. I was lucky enough to have trained when almost every brace clinic [...]
When I started out as an orthotic technician over 25 years ago, I believed you should always flatten the plantar surface of an AFO mold. That’s what I was taught because it was the conventional wisdom of the day. Then I had the opportunity to work with a group of physical therapy students. I felt [...]
Whether I like working on a certain task or not is directly related to how cool the tools are. If I have to paint a room with a paintbrush, I dread it and procrastinate as much as possible, but if a friend said he’d loan me a paint sprayer, the task takes on a whole [...]
Knowing the cost of O&P processes will put the industry on top for the economic rebound.
It feels like the global economic crisis is parked at our front door. The good news is O&P is still a strong industry and when we have been confronted with issues like this before we have emerged stronger, more organized [...]
