Reimagining Mobility. Advancing Research. with Fanny Schultea

In this episode, Brent Wright and Joris Peels sit down with Fanny Schultea, Executive Director of Live in Motion Foundation (formerly The Prosthetic and Orthotic Foundation For Education and Research), to explore how O&P can reinvent itself for the future. Fanny shares her journey from textile design and military service in Iraq to clinical practice, education, and national leadership within the profession.

The conversation examines the workforce challenges facing O&P, the need for new care-delivery models, and the importance of investing in students, residents, clinicians, technicians, and researchers. Fanny also explains how stronger outcomes research, economic evidence, professional development, and public awareness can help expand access to care and demonstrate the value O&P brings to patients and the broader healthcare system.

In this episode:

• Why O&P must rethink how care is delivered
• Addressing clinician shortages, burnout, and barriers to entry
• Building stronger career pathways for the next generation
• Funding scholarships, professional development, and research
• Using outcomes data to demonstrate the value of O&P care
• Preparing the profession for value-based healthcare
• The role of technology, wearables, and AI in future care
• Bringing greater public awareness and investment to O&P

Special thanks to Advanced 3D for sponsoring this episode.

Transcript

Season Welcome And Mission

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome to season 14 of the Prospects Protopics Podcast. This is where we connect with experts in the field, agents who use these devices, physical therapists, doctors, and defenders to help bring it all together. Our mission remains the same: to share stories, tips, and insights that help improve patient outcomes. Tune in and join the conversation. We're glad you're here and hope it's the highlight of your day.

SPEAKER_02 0:32

My name is Doris Beals, and this is another episode of the Prosthetics Orthodox Podcast with Brent Wright.

SPEAKER_01 0:38

How are you doing, Brent? Hey Yoris. I'm doing well, man. Uh I had a question for you. You know, when we first started this podcast, I mean it's been almost four years ago or what have you. Yeah, it's been a while. Would you would you say, uh I know you say that you've learned a lot, but uh like I posted this post uh a couple days ago on LinkedIn, and I literally had a contract manufacturer reach out to me and say, Hey, Brent, love what you do. We want to get into O and P. If you can just spend like a couple hours with our engineers so we can learn how to make prostheses, we're gonna be good to go. And um sounds like a credit, huh? And I was like, it's gonna take a little bit more than a couple hours. And uh but but all that to say is I was able to kind of direct towards our podcast and be like, hey, these are some things that you may want to consider and just educate around it. But as we get further and further in, and I know even for me from the clinical side, I it's it's amazing the body of knowledge that is even untapped within OP. You know, we've captured a lot of it on the podcast, but it's like we just keep on going deeper

Why Printing Everything Is Hard

SPEAKER_01 1:45

and deeper and deeper. And it's like you're not gonna capture anything in two hours. So, but I do know that like even when we first started, you and I were having the discussion of like, why doesn't everybody have a desktop printer and print their own prosthesis? It seems easy. Would you say your opinion has evolved over time now that we're getting deeper into this? Or or where where are we at?

SPEAKER_02 2:05

It's still well, what I what I think I kind of knew in the beginning, but has really crystallized for me, is the whole idea that it's quite a unique profession in essence that it is a lot of people stuff, people work. There's artisanship, there's engineering, and there's also a lot of management work in the sense that that you're even in a really small team, you're probably managing a couple of people or a couple of interactions. And then on top of that, there's also like all this paperwork and stuff like that. And and the whole insurance paperwork thing is just stuff the stuff I did not know anything about. Um I did not anticipate how big of a deal that was for for individual practitioners. But that kind of really varied kind of thing, that you're an entrepreneur in some cases, or even if you work for your own boss, you have to do a lot of different things at the same time. That was something I really got an an uh an appreciation for while doing this. How varied this is how different it is from nearly all jobs I know. And that that that on one hand. And on the printing side, I mean, I I've seen it be more applicable, but maybe really very to very specific areas, where in the beginning I was like, we're just gonna print everything. You know, so I've become much more nuanced and saying, okay, it could be really good for areas where we really literally the interface layer between the human and the prosthetic. And then beyond that, well, okay, if we can just get that interface layer right, would we solve so many issues and so many problems that that that could be uh it should be a real area of deep focus rather than like kind of more naive seems now like let's print all the processes all the time kind of approach that I had before, you know? So that's a bit different, I think. Yeah, yeah. And how about you? Have you learned stuff though? Because I know I'm learning that crazy because I didn't know anything when we started, but how about you? Are you learning stuff?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Well, so I think one of the things that I've just learned over the years with this is you have to have kind of your foundational point. And I know you and I have always discussed, like, where do you start? And it's always the scanning. And I've always skipped that step because I felt like that we've had we have really good tools for one, and we just go straight into printing and then, you know, powder bed fusion. And what happens is that so many times people are like, hey, Brent, you're doing some really cool stuff. And I know I'm never gonna get there, so I'm just not gonna start. And so we've kind of had to step back and be like, okay, we don't want that to happen. We want you to start. So how do you get going just with scanning? That's the foundational aspect of making anything, is you've got to have a well-fitting socket, good data. How do we get that into the digital space? And then we can build from there. And that's really kind of the drum that we're beating

Start With Scanning Fundamentals

SPEAKER_01 4:30

now is like, get yourself started, get scanning, and then you can build from there.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Okay. All right, that sounds very sensible. So, um, uh, who is the next person to join us on this journey? Who's who's gonna who are we gonna be uh talking to today?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Well, I'm really excited to have Fanny Schulte on the podcast today. She brings a uh we're gonna have a lot of fun because there's so many hats that she has worn in her. She has a military background. She was actually uh deployed in Iraq back in the early 2000s. And then from there, she went on to become a prosthetist. And she worked for some of the big clinics uh hangar, um, sablich. And then she became an assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine. She was also part of the American Academy of Orthodox and Prostus. And I think one of the things that I'm really excited for her to dive into on, not only that whole journey, but where we are today is she's the executive director for the Orthotics and Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research. One of the neat things that they do is they create both microgrants and larger grants to help research and education in the orthotic and prosthetic space. So there's a lot of cool things coming down the pike, and they're doing things different. And that can sometimes be very positive, but then you're also trying to buck a trend of being complacent, I guess, for the many years that we've been complacent as a field. And the neat thing is they're an independent organization, so

Fanny’s Path From Army To O And P

SPEAKER_01 6:10

they can do whatever they want. And so they can also guide and direct where innovation is going to happen in orthotics and prosthetics and in the education space. And so I think it's going to be a really good discussion today.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Awesome. Sounds good. So welcome to the show, Fanny.

SPEAKER_00 6:25

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

And uh so tell us, how did you get involved with OMP?

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Yeah, isn't that the origin story question? Uh so I have a pretty diverse background. Like Brent was saying, I've this is my third career. Um, so I actually started out, I'll I'll keep it short, but the journey is relevant. I uh started out in um textile design um and fashion design back in the 90s, doing a lot of work with trying to develop wearable technology at a time where it wasn't really uh part of the zeitgeist or the conversation. Um, there was a lot going on at the time, including uh 9-11, which was really my uh my call for uh for service to our country. So I'm a post-9-11 uh combat veteran. So I signed up uh for the U.S. Army pretty shortly after 9-11 and uh made my way to Texas and uh was stationed here at Fort Hood and and deployed to Iraq in 2005. Didn't realize it then, uh, but was exposed to quite a bit of trauma track injuries and um limb loss and certainly uh mobility challenges uh in my colleagues, my peers, and and others. So I was, I guess, exposed initially to ONP that way, but it did not occur to me to pursue it as a profession. So when I uh finished my time in service, I actually got into um exercise physiology. I became a strength and conditioning coach through the NSCA. I was also a certified sport nutritionist. So I was really on the trajectory of exercise physiology. I was getting ready to apply for PhD programs. I mean, I was a completely on a different track. And we had some colleagues uh that were rock climbers. I'm a rock climber, and one of them was um physician assistant at the VA. And they encouraged me to come check out the prosthetics department just because of my combination of interests with, you know, human movement and performance, as well as my background in fashion and textile design and wearable technology, they said, you know, this is kind of an interesting convergence of all of those spaces in your past. And so I just, you know, I figured I would just go check it out. And I did. And I actually walked by a um shoulder disarticulation, like myelectric, full myelectric fitting. And I was like, holy moly, what is this? This is this is incredible. And so literally just like that, I kind of dropped out of uh the PhD process and redirected my time to just volunteering in the prosthetics department at the VA in Central Texas by Ford Hood. And one thing led to another. And I um was actually one of the inaugural uh graduates of the Baylor College of Medicine program down in in Houston and worked a little bit in clinical practice and uh realized that I would have a greater impact if I went into education. So for the last 10 years, I spent on faculty at the Orthotics Prosthetics program in Houston, at their master's program. It's uh was the first integrated program. So those are academic programs where the students continue under the oversight of the program to perform their ONP residency. And so we were the first, and it was an incredible experience. And again, I was able to, you know, impact more patients through education and, you know, elevation of standards through teaching. But I also realized that I think Brent alluded to this, the academic environment was a little bit more limiting for me. And some of the changes that I wanted to see and hopefully influence and impact across our profession was just not feasible from that, from that vantage point. So in 2023, I joined the ONP Foundation, which was the result of a merger between the smaller grant and scholarship funding entities under AOPA and the Academy. And we became completely independent. So we're the only, the first and only 501c3 public charity that serves ONP professionals across the continuum of care, across the continuum of the professional space. So we support students, residents, orthodists, prosthetists, pedorthists, ONP assistants, administrators, fitters. We support researchers at all stages of their career. We support clinicians at all stages of their career. So ideally, if you want support as an ONP professional, you can turn to us to support. And that that support comes in the form of funding, so money.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

And uh so this I like that you've had so many very, very clear choices and differences of stuff. Is it if we look at and I like that you're kind of uniquely positioned to to to to uh answer this also because you're viewed vantage point now? If we're talking about the the the individual profession, like OMP professional in today's labor market in today's world, is that a really challeng is that a really challenging position? Is it a really desirable position? You know, does the industry have to worry about making that job more challenging or more rewarding or pay more? Or is there anything, you know, with the core job, the core orthotest and process profession profession, is that still valid and is that still very, very uh a nice place to be at the moment?

SPEAKER_00 11:32

That is a very loaded question that I will unpack. I'll unpack that carefully. So our field, our profession is always rewarding, right? It is probably one of the most rewarding professions you you can have. I mean, you are spending a tremendous amount of time with patients more than any other healthcare provider. You are restoring, transforming people's lives, all right, giving them their families back, their careers back, their, you know, self-esteem back, their purpose back, and their confidence. I mean, who who would not absolutely love to engage with that daily? It's also a profession that appeals to people who enjoy solving complex problems. I mean, look, that's that's why I got into it. You know, I was looking at it initially as a way to engage with the man-machine interface, right? With wearable technology, with how do we bridge that gap. It's a complicated problem to solve. And that continues. It is still a complicated problem to solve. It's become more interesting and complex because of the advancements in material science and manufacturing techniques and all of the things that you are uh both very aware of. But there's additional complexities. And I think those are the more difficult complexities to address. Those are the environments of the healthcare system, the payment structure, the policy and the regulatory construct in which all healthcare providers have to interact and operate. But for us, we're uniquely positioned because we're at the intersection of a really innovative and technologically advanced industry sector and a architecturally antiquated healthcare profession that is catching up to the rest of healthcare, but also healthcare in itself is an antiquated model that is not designed to foster innovation. And so there's sort of two conflicting agendas and incentives that collide at the workbench and at the bedside of the orthodost. And so it's it's an interesting challenge, you know, from my perspective, with an organization that funds programs to support professionals who ultimately, at the end of the day, without these professionals, patients can't access the care that they need and deserve. And for these providers, it becomes more and more challenging because we have fewer and fewer CPOs. Many are leaving the profession. Many are struggling with balancing the patient load that they have because we have so much demand across the US and, you know, don't even get started on global demand. But in the United States alone, with the generations shifting and the need for orthotics and prosthetics increasing at an exponential weight, we're just not, we're not able to keep up with our training and preparation for our clinicians. So it's challenging.

Why The Job Feels Harder Now

SPEAKER_00 14:30

It's a challenging space to be in for sure, but it's incredibly rewarding and and very worthwhile. And so the real complex problem to solve is how do we continue to provide the highest quality, most accessible care to the patients who we enjoy serving every day in the healthcare system with technologies and innovations that can really move the needle on outcomes and still keep the clinicians engaged for a lifelong career?

SPEAKER_02 14:59

And that there's a there's this weird thing because normally, hey, if there's increasing demand, some we're all going to make more money, right? Or we're gonna be utilization rate's gonna be better, so then we're gonna be paid more. So is there a bit like is there like a market mechanism that's broken here that is keeping that from uh kind of the market from solving itself? Or is it is it a different kind of problem that is really uh fundamental?

SPEAKER_00 15:19

Yeah, there's definitely there's definitely a problem. So I think part of the problem is the construct of the care delivery. We I think the best example is when you go to a dentist's office, right? You go to the dentist's office, you interact with several different care providers before you get to the dentist. Everyone has a very well-defined, clear role. Um, there's incredible technology at the dentist's office, actually. I just had a an implant done last year, and uh everything was 100% digital, 100% 3D printed, 100% smooth, and the outcomes were incredible. And I probably spent only a few minutes with a dentist at each of my visits. And so really, I think what we need to be considering is innovation and care delivery to replicate a little bit more of what a dental office feels like, right? You have price transparency, you have someone who's in charge of speaking to you about that, you have someone who's working on, you know, your outcome measures, you have someone who's working on, you know, some preliminary assessments or measurements. And then you have the clinician that comes in for the core of their work, which is really to evaluate a patient and generate a treatment plan and oversee a care team. You know, the care team could be anyone ranging from an orthotic prosthetic assistant to an orthotic fitter, technicians are part of the care team, office administrators are cared part of the care team. And really, we should be getting to the point where we're coordinating care for our patients. So we'll be able to see more patients, provide them with higher quality of care. And so we just don't have the mechanisms built out yet for that workforce pipeline. So there are many entities working on this. We're funding programs to help, you know, a little bit to support folks to get into that space. And there are many uh care delivery organizations or, you know, patient care organizations that are working to this end as well. I think everyone recognizes the problem. And we can only generate so many clinicians every year. So we need to generate the support network for those individuals.

SPEAKER_02 17:20

Okay. That seems like a really sensible thing. But but and and us to those people that are leaving, do you know why they're leaving? Is it have we been able to study more about like what the because we've heard kind of vague people, you know, in one way or the other saying about why they would want to leave or why they see there's a pressure. Do you see where where why the what are the individual reasons why these people or folks are leaving kind of mid-career after doing the study or after being in the uh in the uh in the field for a bit?

SPEAKER_00 17:44

Yeah. So there's unfortunately there's no like formal study or or any meaningful research in this area. I think we just all have some anecdotal assessment of it. You know, I think it depends on the generation that's leaving, right? So if you have someone who's mid-career, I think in many cases there's limited upward mobility for practitioners. And so I think after a certain amount of time in a career, people look to expand outward. And if that opportunity is not available in patient care in the clinical practice, there's other opportunities, whether it's education, working with manufacturing and research and development or different opportunities that are um sort of auxiliary, but the people still stay in the space. You also have younger, um, younger practitioners who are just starting out who really went straight from college, incurred a fair bit of debt to go into this field. That's another kind of interesting area that we're dealing with right now at the federal level. But the reimbursements are decreasing. The salaries may not be reflective of the investment in time and expense in getting into this field. And so that might be just an early deterrent burnout. So again, a lot of people need our care, and there's not enough of us to provide it. So inevitably, that burden is on the clinicians. And with a care delivery model that doesn't integrate care extenders and assistants and fitters and the like, um, you just that burden just gets passed on to the clinicians. So I think you have burnout and you have sort of an immediate straight to master's option, whereas many other spaces you can kind of progress. You know, if you start off as a technician or start off as an assistant, then you can get a sense for what the space is like and then continue to to kind of move up the stair stair steps to get into clinical practice and and perhaps have a better sense and more of a commitment once you get there. I I think there's tremendous barriers to to entry in the first place as well. Just the cost of education is increasing. This is not isolated to orthotics and prosthetics. There are some federal activities right now that are highlighting this phenomenon. You know, there's student loan caps that are gonna go into effect this summer for graduate schools. This is going to impact orthotics and prosthetics master's programs, and the ability for more people to attend those programs is going to decrease. There's other things down the pipeline with the Department of Education regarding reporting about salaries and prospective earnings for graduates. This is really good for the student loan crisis, but this may create some initial disruptions for for orthotics and prosthetics, as it will for other healthcare professions.

SPEAKER_02 20:20

Okay. That sounds really sensible. And and and, you know, beyond this, I think I think are there other solutions to just because it, you know, it seems like the the logical solution there would be to have really efficient operators. And then we get to this whole like ginormous McDonald's-like corporation takes over. But is there a solution? Let's say I have my own practice, because all these practices have the same problem. Like I don't have anyone that takes it over. I have too much work, and there's a young person who's not earning enough. So it seems to be that the that like rather than selling your practice to someone having kind of an earn-in kind of option and then making that process more fluid to take over that business, seems like it could deal with a lot of problems at the same time, right?

SPEAKER_00 20:54

I mean, yeah, you know, there's a lot of different things happening across um across the industry in in the US to try to solve these problems. And I think it's just a matter of time to see which approach will be the most effective. I think from the ONP Foundation standpoint, where we see the opportunity is that if we know that there's a need for more care extenders and we know that there are barriers in the cost of education, we can't change the system, but we can fundraise, raise awareness, and put some of those investments towards breaking down some of those barriers. You know, we're working very hard over the next couple of years to scale this more so that we can have a greater impact, so that greater investments can go towards addressing these issues while they're being resolved at a system level. This is really similar with research. You know, you may not be aware, but federal funding for research in orthotics and prosthetics has been functionally absent for the last several years, and it's not looking like it's coming back online in a meaningful way. And we are also going to start over the next few years perhaps seeing. In the researchers who are expert in this space, which, as Brent alluded to, you know, it's a very nuanced field. And losing talented researchers in a very nuanced space is a huge loss. And so, you know, whereas we can't, we're not in a current position to provide safety net funding or anything, you know, significant to that effect, but, you know, our goal is to be able to do that one day and to highlight some of those deficiencies and challenges, just like those that are facing students and early stage clinicians. And the same is true again, you know, with clinicians who are working, who are considering leaving the profession. Maybe they're not getting the appropriate amount of professional development so that they can sort of self-actualize as an orthodist prosthetist or feel like their employers are investing in them or feel like they're getting new skills and attributes to bring back to their patients. And so we support continuing professional development programs so that we can try to, you know, recognize

Rethinking Care Delivery Like Dentistry

SPEAKER_00 23:00

clinicians, give them an opportunity to continue to develop their skills to learn about the different innovations and bring them back to practice and bring them back to their patients. So it's it's kind of like a multi-pronged approach to help with some of these issues while the entire profession really needs to examine systems level changes.

SPEAKER_02 23:21

So we've heard the character and the thing come up a couple of times. How is it going with training these people? Is there like other tons of people who would want to become this, or do we still need to do more to uh, you know, attract people to this as a profession? Is that is there a pipeline of these people coming or not?

SPEAKER_00 23:36

There's different entities doing different things across our space to try to bring in these individuals, train these individuals. There's currently no kind of standardized approach or pipeline. And I think uh, you know, ABC over the last few years has engaged in some very robust awareness campaigns just around our profession in general, regardless of clinical position. And it's clear that there is a like a professional awareness deficiency. So I would say it extends to this community of folks as well. You know, I think there's a low awareness that this is even a career pathway. We don't even have that many certified ONP assistants out there in in general. And I think the over the next several years, you'll see more and more training opportunities and programs kind of coming online. I think you'll see um increased sophistication in the pathways that are available to these individuals, as well as the awareness campaigns around it.

SPEAKER_02 24:32

So let's the other thing is is is we're seeing well, so a little bit about technology. I think it's it's it's interesting you worked in wearables like way back when, say, and now we're getting these aura rings and smart watches for for for kind of uh, you know, your phone could do a lot more. How are you seeing this wearables impact the OMP world now? It could be a tool, it could also be a threat to certain extent to a certain extent. How do you see that wearables world now and OMP kind of go together?

SPEAKER_00 24:57

Yeah, I mean, definitely goes together very well, right? And certainly from our standpoint as an organization that supports less so on the research and development and really more so on kind of implementation science, outcomes research, and and really clinically relevant research. I think wearables and and tracking devices are going to be an important piece of that puzzle so that we can, you know, demonstrate the value of the work that we do through through data collection, through these, these wearables, whatever they may be, right? It could be your your Apple Watch, it could be your Aura ring, or it could be um, you know, a ONP specific device that's installed within a socket or within a brace for wear time. And um, there's without that data, it's it's gonna be hard to be as effective um at at collecting those outcomes data. So I think it's uh gonna play a really critical part.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

And just just a little bit more generally about research, where is it really needed? Where do you see a real frontier for OMP research? Or where is it really needed to do more? And and where would you like to fund more if you had like more money with the phone?

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Yeah. Um Well, I think the research across all the whole space needs to be increased and improved. But from our standpoint, or organizationally, I think that our main priorities are to really facilitate research initiatives that will support the orthotics and prosthetics and pedorthics profession to demonstrate its value in the healthcare landscape. So, what kind of research initiatives do that? You know, it's really outcomes research. It's economic analyses, right? It's comparative research for demonstrating the value of the interventions that we provide. How does this improve patient outcomes? How does it improve the quality or, you know, how are we working to improve the quality of care? Care system is moving towards value-based care pretty rapidly. And I think we have an opportunity to engage in the type of research that will support the infrastructure for value-based care for us to be able to participate in that and to keep our sustainability as a profession that has a tremendous impact on patients. We just historically haven't done a very good job on communicating that impact. And we're sort of at a an inflection point now where we need to start doing that. So it's going to be any research that demonstrates our impact to the third-party payers, to the regulators, to the legislators. You know, we want to increase access for patients.

SPEAKER_02 27:20

And and that's kind of interesting. This value-based shift, right? That's kind of interesting because it seems like it could really benefit OMP because I couldn't walk, now I can walk. That seems like a no-brainer. Like, but do you have any kind of insight on is that a positive development? Is it does it look that good, or is it going to allow a lot more kind of vague interpretations that will actually make it more difficult?

Burnout Debt And Clinicians Leaving

SPEAKER_00 27:40

It's a great question. You know, I don't think anyone has an exact answer. Actually, AOPA had a leadership conference earlier this year where there was every single attendee participated in a huge debate about this, actually. You know, is it gonna help? Is it gonna hurt? And what do we think? And I think the verdict is still out as a non-traditional healthcare field, we will not be brought into value-based care in the same way that that other healthcare providers are, just by the nature of the way that we bill and and you know, the way that we get paid for our services. But I think as a proxy and by extension, working with referral sources and and partners that are held to the standards of value-based care, by extension, that that that will be put on us. So I think the sentiment is why wait until someone else determines the value that we provide? Or why wait until someone else outlines what is considered quality or not in orthotics and prosthetics care? That is really the onus is on us to start mapping out what that what that looks like. Because there will be a time in the next 10 to 15 years where someone will impose that on us if we don't do it ourselves first.

SPEAKER_01 28:50

I think one of the things that I'd like to for you to dive into a little bit is one, what led you to the Orthotics and Prosthetics Foundation for Education and Research and kind of where you see some things going, and maybe even touching on some of the programs that you currently have. Because I think it's super important, like what you were saying, is how do we retain the people that we have, create awareness around our field in general, and then help people achieve milestones, stepping stones, whether it is through assistance, the pedorthic side of things. So I'd love to hear that journey, just so our listeners can also see where, you know, it casts a little bit of a vision for the for the future as well.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Yeah. Well, I definitely can talk about that for, you know, the whole day if you have. Well, you know, what was attractive to me about the foundation was that it was the result of a merger, right? It it marked the recognition that two entities operating in silos realized and and fully acknowledged that they would not be as effective separate as they would together. And so that in itself was, you know, very attractive to me because it was different than what had been done previously. It was a group of people that clearly acknowledged some of the challenges we face, which I do believe are the very siloed, you know, industry, profession, organizations. Everything is really not as integrated as it should be, especially for the complex problems we've we face. So that was sort of number one, attractive. Again, the people who were involved, the transition board, the leadership at the time were, you know, they were, they were visionaries, honestly. They were looking to serve the community without the construct of another organization's oversight and to create something different and an opportunity uh for support for everyone. And so it's evolved since then, even in the short time that we've uh been independent, really two years, we've changed and shifted our programs. This year's been really exciting. So we have kind of like three pillars, if you want to look at it that way. We have education, research, and clinical practice. And so, you know, with education, we have scholarships and award programs for students and residents, research. Of course, it's research grants and uh for clinical practice, you know, professional development opportunities. So, you know, just as an example, last year we offered the largest scholarships ever offered in OMP at $20,000 for students' tax-free scholarships. Uh, student loan debts are so tremendous, $20,000 is, you know, probably not even enough. And those scholarships were increased because we conducted focus groups. So we we actually just wrapped up our focus groups just a couple of weeks ago. And we have an open comment period right now, and this is how we inform our program development because we serve the community and and who better to hear from their needs than than the community. And so the feedback we got is that, you know, these students are extreme uh, you know, experiencing tremendous hardship, and the scholarships need need to be increased. So we did that. We offer conference travel awards. Um, it used to be under NCOPE, but now we've taken over the Larry Lange uh travel awards for residents to be able to attend uh professional conferences. That's, you know, extremely beneficial for residents. We have a few other scholarships as well, and we just launched actually today um Pedortist as well as OP assistant scholarships. So these are kind of full ride scholarships for the both of those clinical disciplines. So we're really excited to see the response to those. We also are offering conference travel awards for Pedorthists and ONP assistants who typically don't attend in really high numbers our professional conferences at a national level. So we're excited to be able to offer those opportunities. And also in professional development, the first time ever, we're offering a healthcare quality fellowship. So this is an opportunity for anyone in ONP. I mean, it could be a clinician, an administrator, a you know, business owner, anyone to pursue credentialing in healthcare quality or to pursue like postgraduate or educational programs in healthcare quality. And then of course, with research, we we kind of have a cool model where we create like a stair step where we have, you know, starts off pretty small with microgrants that are small accessible grants for various initiatives. You know, clinicians can apply for these, students can apply for these residents. You know, if you have a little project that you have in mind and you need some funding, it's kind of like the perfect solution for that. And then we have more structured research grants like the mentored

What The O And P Foundation Funds

SPEAKER_00 33:30

pilot grant. This is for either PhD students or ONP residents that are doing research with the oversight of a mentor. Then the opportunity to get the experience to apply for grants, the experience to like run a research project with structured oversight and funding. And then after that, they can stair step and apply for an early career research grant with us, which is for researchers that have 10, 10 or less years of experience. So this is really kind of building up these researchers' portfolios, their experience level, and you know, their track record for earning grants. Because at the end of the day, if you want to compete nationally for federal grants, because we all hope that one day they will be restored more or less. To be able to compete for federal funding, you often need pilot data. You certainly need a track record of receiving grants and you need that experience. And, you know, the proof is in the pudding. Many past recipients of grants have kind of stair-stepped their way into larger national funding opportunities this way. So a lot, lot, lots, lots going on. We also have a technician award. So this is an opportunity for technicians to branch out and expand their skill set, you know, and learn an additional technical skill, do a training, do a course, or get an additional credentialing. And, you know, whether it's advanced manufacturing techniques or kind of any sort of new approaches that they can bring back to their everyday work and ultimately benefit patients. So lots of new programs coming up. I'm very excited about. And I think there's a part of your question I didn't answer with respects to kind of what's coming up. You know, all of these programs are really great, but at the end of the day, if we only offer one or two awards in each program, while it does benefit those individuals, it doesn't quite move the needle as much as if we were to offer 10 gram. And so, you know, we've received over the years financial support and of course, like, you know, engagement support from the ONP community. But one thing that we've come to realize in the past year is that at the end of the day, um, we need to raise awareness about this field more broadly. We need to gain support both financially as well as, you know, from a communications and marketing standpoint, more broadly. And so we are turning our attention outwards to the public. And so we actually have a lot of changes coming up at the ONP Foundation over the coming months. So stay tuned for those, where we're really going to try to um to raise funds and increase our ability to invest in all of these programs and others so that we can move the needle and increase the impact and broaden the impact. And hopefully also bring some attention to the field from corporations, individuals, and entities who might not otherwise would have been looped into what we do. Because let's be honest, as soon as someone finds out what we do every day for work and what the patients get from the work that we do, it's a no-brainer. Everyone just absolutely falls in love with this space. I just think we've historically been pretty bad at bringing anybody else in. And it's been pretty insular. So I'm excited about the opportunity the O and P Foundation has to do that.

SPEAKER_01 36:51

Do you ever, when you meet somebody for the first time, kind of hold back on, well, I've been to orthotics and prosthetics because sometimes that that rabbit hole can go deep. I know I do sometimes. I'm like, you know what? I don't really want to because people are super interested and curious about it. I'm like, I'm in healthcare.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Yeah. You know, every time I go to the doctor, they're like, are you in healthcare? Because I always ask, you know, these like kind of pessimistic questions about billing and coverage. And, you know, I'm like, yes, I'm in healthcare. And, you know, I know that if I start talking, it's going to be a, you know, a 15-minute conversation. And because everyone is very, very interested. And so I actually do talk about it. I'm mentally prepared to talk about it. But you're right, I think there is so much interest. And I think there's interest because no one's ever heard of it before. And there's also interest because at the end of the day, one out of four Americans is going to experience some kind of physical disability at some point in their life. They may not necessarily receive a prosthesis or need to use a prosthesis, but I guarantee they will engage or interact with an orthotic device at some point in their life. And I think that's also something people come to realize when they hear about the work that we do. They're like, oh man, this is probably something I'm where, oh man, grandma or my daughter had to get something like this, or my husband is, you know, um recovering from surgery and you, you know, using a post-op or, you know, there's all sorts of connection points that people make once we start talking about the work we do. So I think that also leads to longer discussions. But in my eyes, those are good things. We really want to spread the word more. And I think once people realize how many people we impact, it gets pretty compelling that they would want to support or further their interest. We just don't do it often enough. And maybe it's because of that, right? You don't want to get into it.

SPEAKER_01 38:42

Something else. And then you say, well, I make artificial arms and legs. It's like, oh, okay, let's ask more. And I'm like, well, I'm actually, I mean, I enjoy what we do, but I am kind of curious about some of the uh, you know, other people that are doing the quote unquote more boring stuff, because that's what they'll say. I'm just, I just uh I'm a I'm an accountant or what have you. I'm like, man, there are definitely probably some stories in that realm that would be uh very interesting

Scholarships Microgrants And Research Stair Steps

SPEAKER_01 39:10

to hear.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

Oh, well, you know, the grass is always greener on the other side, right?

SPEAKER_01 39:14

That's right.

SPEAKER_00 39:14

And that's that's the other thing. You know, we have been communicating amongst ourselves about what we do for so long that I think just, you know, as a profession, we have lost that glimmer in our eye, right? Like that excitement and that inspiration that maybe we had early on, or that maybe we would have if we engaged more with the public. And again, it's I don't think this has been intentional. I think it's just what happens when a group becomes too insular. So, you know, the more we expand out, the more we can kind of restore that excitement and energy. And I just think it it's going to be positive uh across the board for everything. You know, I think this is probably true for technology and innovation. You know, if you it's kind of hard to innovate and build new technology if you're always interacting with the same materials or the same people or the same group of professionals and you're never branching out. I mean, some of the greatest innovations happen because there's cross-pollination. And I think that's that's true when it comes to funding, supporting, and raising awareness. And just like you said, I would love to cross-pollinate with some accountants because there's lots of really interesting accounting problems that, you know, maybe if they heard someone else be very excited about it, they would be reinvigorated about the work that they do.

SPEAKER_01 40:33

Yeah. I'd also like to just explore a little bit. We have a lot of people that are residents are looking to get into the field. So we we covered just a little bit on the orthotic prosthetic assistant side of things. But you can you just speak a little bit to, I mean, you you, when I look at your history, you were very intentional about the steps that you took to get the experience needed to become a good clinician, and then obviously into the education. Can you just share with our listeners a little bit about, you know, probably shouldn't wing it, and just being intentional about the steps moving forward, specifically when you're talking about this field?

SPEAKER_00 41:15

Yeah. I I mean, I think on one hand, things can happen organically. Men often do, right? When you talk to people who reflect back on their careers, not every step was planned, but I think one thing everyone has in common is that they have voiced interest, right? Or done some self-reflection to really think about what they really want and to not be afraid to communicate that. You know, I think if we talk about residents, for example, you know, residencies are gonna be variable, right? Depends where you're at, depends who your preceptor is. But one thing that's pretty consistent is that if you are motivated and know what you want to see, know what you want to learn and understand more or less where you want to go and voice it, people will respect you. Likely you will get what you're asking for, or at least make it known and sort of manifest that for yourself. I know that's what I did in residency. I was very clear about my interests, about what I wanted to focus on and prioritize. And you know, when people heard me share those things, they worked to help me get exposure to them or facilitate opportunities for that. So I think kind of step one is educating yourself about what is available and voicing your needs and your thoughts about what you would want to be able to take advantage of, knowing what's available to you, and trying to build the relationships. You know, I think too often residents and students don't realize that relationship building starts like now or yesterday, right? It should have started yesterday. And you can kind of see this at conferences. You know, a lot of them don't necessarily attend or don't see the value because maybe they aren't needing CEUs yet. But what they're missing is this opportunity for connection and for sharing their interests and thoughts. You never know who's going to share that interest and thought, and you never know where an opportunity will arise. And again, the time to start that is today. So I think taking advantage of professional opportunities, national conferences to understand the landscape and understand maybe where you might want to put your energy and ask for it. What's the worst that'll happen? Someone will say no, right?

SPEAKER_01 43:23

Right, right.

SPEAKER_00 43:24

You just ask someone else. Um, and then you just keep asking until you get it, or until maybe you self-assess and you realize there's a different pathway for you. But I think too often, you know, we see a lot of these young adults are coming straight from a bachelor's program, straight into a master's program. There's fewer and fewer adult learners. So a lot of these folks in residencies went straight through school and this is their first job, right? This is kind of a hard first job.

SPEAKER_01 43:51

Right.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Right. And and it's intimidating. And so I think there's a little bit of a life experience, work experience challenge. Um, and so maybe whereas someone who had had a little bit of work experience, had had several other careers, or, you know, was 40 years old is gonna have a totally different way of self-advocacy than a 24-year-old who's only been in school. So I think some networking, you know, connecting with other people who are in the same position as you and talking through different approaches that have been successful for other residents are really important. And that's again the value of going to these professional conferences and meeting others and connecting with others who are kind of at the same professional stage as you are.

SPEAKER_01 44:33

And I think one last question that I have for you before we close everything up is kind of the rise. We haven't talked on this about 3D printing, but just technology in general. I mean, you mentioned the shoulder disarticulation and everything that make goes on to make that is technology. How do you connect all that stuff together? And now we have this whole AI thing that's happening right now, AI and machine learning. How do you think that impacts uh our

Career Intentionality Wearables And AI

SPEAKER_01 45:00

field moving forward?

SPEAKER_00 45:01

Yeah, I mean, honestly, no, no way of knowing what the world will be like in a year, let alone, you know, six months. I think it's gonna be another care extender, right? Just like it is in other areas of people's work lives, right? It allows people to be more efficient. It allows people to, in some cases, be more present with their patient. It allows more brain capacity or brain power to go towards activities that, you know, require more complex thinking and problem solving, which our field has no shortage of. And, you know, in terms of technology, I mean, it's gonna revolutionize many, many technologies in our space, especially like control strategies and different things like that that are already, it's already being integrated. So I think it's for clinical practice, it's gonna be sort of a different type of care extender, a non-human care extender. And it's gonna be another member of the healthcare team.

SPEAKER_02 45:57

All right. That's awesome. Fanny, thank you so much. I think we can talk a lot more with you, I think. Uh, but but thank you so much for for the time you've given us today and uh uh giving us uh your viewpoint on things. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

Well, thanks for having me. I we'll have to do a follow-up when you know the world changes in a year from now. I'm sure our answers might be different.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Totally, totally. And uh yeah, and thanks uh as well for you being here as well, Brent.

SPEAKER_01 46:19

This is great. And one of the things that I love is this is not a part of ONP that I think a lot of. But now that I'm kind of in my second half of my career, I guess you would say, this is the part that I do care deeply about is what's going to happen with the next generation of clinicians, and what does our the future of orthotics and prosthetics look like? Uh healthcare environment that we're in with kind of the the cards that we've been dealt. And so I'm super excited to continue this discussion for sure. Awesome.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

And thank you very much for listening. Have a great day, and thanks so much for the prosthetics on