Explore by Career/Healthcare Practitioners and Technical
Orthotists and Prosthetists
Design, measure, fit, and adapt orthopedic braces, appliances or prostheses, such as limbs or facial parts for patients with disabling conditions.
- Median pay
- $78,310
- per year
- 10-year outlook
- +13.3%
- Growing
- Typical entry
- Master's degree
Key skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Writing
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Social Perceptiveness
- Service Orientation
What they do
- Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
- Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
- Maintain patients' records.
- Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
- Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
- Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions and examination and measurement of patients.
- Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
- Construct and fabricate appliances, or supervise others constructing the appliances.
- Make and modify plaster casts of areas to be fitted with prostheses or orthoses to guide the device construction process.
- Confer with physicians to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
Majors that lead here
No mapped majors yet.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS, Employment Projections) and O*NET, used under CC BY 4.0.