For five weeks this summer, we were lucky enough to have an intern from one of the O&P technical education programs working with us. We like working with interns because it gives us a chance to see the relative effectiveness of the various technical education program curricula and because we get some free labor! Another [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
