From the Editor As described in this month's feature article, the good news is that there
appears to be little "generation gap" between younger and older
practitioners. Besides sons and daughters following parents into
the field, the profession is reaching out more to other young
people to make them aware of O&P as a career choice.
Looking at the future, O&P practitioners will be caring for
patients from increasingly diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
While ethnic minorities make up about 24 percent of the Baby Boom
population (generally considered persons born between 1946 and
1964), they will comprise 34 percent of "Generation Y" (considered
to be persons born between 1977 and 1995). Generation Y is expected
to increase at twice the rate of the population until 2010 and by
2020, this percentage will have reached 32 percent of the total
population, according to information available online from
Northwestern University.
How will the O&P profession effectively care for these
patients? One avenue may be to reach out to draw more
ethnic-minority students into the field. Another may be to become
individually more culturally sensitive and aware of the needs of
patients from various backgrounds.
Along these lines, a prosthetic team from Hanger P & O
recently completed a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan. An
inspiring aspect of the rehabilitation field is the willingness of
so many to help the disabled, no matter where they live. After all,
disability has no national borders. 
Table Of Contents - December 2002
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