The Board of Certification/Accreditation (BOC) recently changed the prerequisites to become a certified orthotist or prosthetist. Candidates must now graduate from an education program accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) and continue a residency approved by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE).
According to a press release, the new educational requirements were established during an agreement signed in 2008 by the leaders of BOC, the American Academy of Orthotics and Prosthetics; American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association; American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics; and the National Association for the Advancement of Orthotics and Prosthetics.
Although the NCOPE residency requirement was not part of the original agreement, BOC considered the addition important. BOC has also continued to make the process of certification more customer-centric by offering certification exams year-round at testing locations across the country, as well as allowing BOC O&P candidates to take their exams during their residency and begin practicing immediately following their residency programs.
“We want BOC orthotists and prosthetists to have the option to begin practicing soon after they complete their residency,” Jan paul Miller, MA, MEd, director of certification for BOC, stated in the release. “This benefits the practitioner, the facility where he or she works and the patients they serve.”
