Certified pedorthists voted to approve integration of the Board for Certification in Pedorthics (BCP) into the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC). With this vote, the BCP was officially integrated into ABC on Jan. 1.
ABC president Steve Fletcher, CPO, and BCP president Dave Cardillo, CPed, both agree that this vote signifies a monumental step forward for our profession.
“In today’s demanding health care environment, specialists in all fields of foot care must work together to deliver consistently high-quality services,” Cardillo said in a press release. “By uniting under the ABC umbrella, BCP certificants have shown their commitment to this goal.”
“This is a positive day for our profession,” Fletcher said. “With the addition of the CPed credential and all of the BCP’s pedorthic programs, ABC is truly the credentialing organization for orthotics, prosthetics and pedorthics.”
More than 89% of all ballots cast voted in favor of the integration. Pedorthists will be fully represented in the new organization, as two certified pedorthists will be added to the ABC board of directors and the volunteer committees of the two organizations will be merged. Administratively, the two organizations will transfer the certificant data and organizational records of BCP to ABC. Current certified pedorthists will be sent an ABC welcoming packet in mid-February. The packet will contain a new ABC certified pedorthist certificate along with information about the organization.
