Alexandria, VA-On March 20, 2009, the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) awarded the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics, Inc. (ABC) and the National Commission on Orthotics and Prosthetics Education (NCOPE) Category I recognition. ISPO’s acknowledgement of ABC/NCOPE’s educational pathway to receive a certified prosthetist/orthotist (CPO) designation has helped propel ABC/NCOPE onto the international stage. ABC is the only credentialing body in the United States that has received Category I recognition from ISPO.
To receive the Category I recognition, ABC and NCOPE applied to ISPO together as a pathway for those individuals interested in obtaining their CPO designation. ISPO reviewed the entire process for becoming credentialed as a CPO from the primary O&P education, through residency and culminating in the ABC credentialing examinations.
“ABC is excited about gaining ISPO Category I recognition. For the U.S. education and certification process, achieving Category I status is a tremendous step in international recognition and external validation,” said Bob Lin, CPO, FAAOP, President of ABC. “While ABC and NCOPE have believed strongly in our processes and standards, recognition by the international community not only reaffirms the strength of our efforts but also fosters worldwide collaboration in O&P education and training.”
In December 2008, ABC and NCOPE hosted surveyors from ISPO in Dallas, TX to conduct an onsite visit. This included visiting two NCOPE accredited residency programs, a hospital-based program and an O&P patient care facility. While in Dallas, the ISPO surveyors interviewed students and faculty from the O&P program at the University of Texas Southwestern. Finally, the surveyors were onsite to observe the ABC clinical patient management (CPM) examination. While the surveyors were at the exam, they also reviewed the orthotic and prosthetic written and written simulation exams to evaluate ABC’s comprehensive examination process.
“The onsite visit from ISPO was very intensive and comprehensive,” said Cathy Carter, ABC Executive Director. “We are pleased that the scrutiny of the education, residency and ABC examination process has resulted in Category I recognition.”
In the early 1990s, ISPO, an international society created to facilitate improvements in the care of patients with neuromuscular and skeletal disabilities, integrated a classification system that evaluates organizations on the processes used in educating, training and certifying orthotic and prosthetic students. The standards ISPO enforces are recognized by the World Health Organization, so by obtaining Category I recognition ABC/NCOPE has demonstrated the equivalency of the approach used to properly educate, train and assess the competency of O&P practitioners in the United States, as compared to international standards. ISPO Category I recognition will be awarded to those ABC certifees who received both their orthotic and prosthetic (CPO) designation using the ABC/NCOPE pathway effective December 2008.
“We are honored that ISPO has awarded ABC/NCOPE pathway Category I recognition for all future CPO designations,” said Robin Seabrook, NCOPE Executive Director. “With this recognition the ABC/NCOPE CPO pathway will be seen throughout the world as having met the highest international educational standards in existence today.”