Building Local Capacity through Training
Prosthetics Outreach Foundation works to strengthen the local capacity of developing countries to provide prosthetic care, orthopedic surgery, and the treatment of children with clubfoot. POF collaborates with government Ministries and non-profit organizations to build and train a skilled workforce at the local level. These partnerships are key to effective, sustainable programs.
Partnership highlights
- POF partners with CURE International to help eradicate clubfoot in the developing world. POF and CURE work to establish countrywide clubfoot treatment programs by training local and allied health professionals to implement the Ponseti method of clubfoot management. For example, in 2010 and 2012, POF and CURE International representatives held national clubfoot training conferences in Sierra Leone, that brought together medical teams from throughout the country.
- In Haiti, POF and its partners, Justinian University Hospital and the University of Miami Haiti Project, are committed to building the skills and capabilities of staff at JUH’s Physical Rehabilitation Center and prosthetics workshop. Along with other support, POF is providing technical assistance to and funding for a professional prosthetist and students enrolled in a prosthetic technologist training program. The prosthetist is providing direct prosthetic services to amputees, and on-the-job skills training for the Haitian students.
- In Sierra Leone, hands-on prosthetics trainings have assisted clinical personnel to enhance their skills and improve services to patients. Visiting P&O trainers have included members of the Northwest Chapter of the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists.
- Each year, POF and the American Orthopedic Foot & Ankle Society sponsor a group of volunteer orthopedic surgeons to Vietnam, where they perform surgeries alongside their Vietnamese counterparts and provide information on the latest techniques and skills.
Through training, technical assistance, and technology transfer, POF and its partners build local effective, accessible, viable services for adults and children with disabilities in developing countries.
