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Letters
What About the Consumer?
To the Editor:
I read with great interest Miki Fairley's feature article in
your July issue, "Commoditization vs. Customization: Are Trends in
O&P Affecting You?"
I found the unbiased approach to eliciting multiple views of the
article's core issue thought-provoking and enlightening. As I read,
however, I was surprised by the noticeable omission of the
consumer's opinion. Okay, call me biased. After all, I am a
consumer. And furthermore, this is an industry-directed
publication. But, step back for a moment and give some thought to
my observation.
You have challenged a variety of industry executives and O&P
professionals by asking, "What about you?" You write, "It all boils
down to know your business. Don't just assume that because you are
a good practitioner, you will succeed. Don't assume that if you
just keep doing what you are doing, this too [current challenges]
will pass. Know your business inside and out. Know the numbers.
Know who is doing what and why."
It seems obvious to me then, if you are to know your business
inside and out, that you also would include, and hopefully value,
the opinion of the foundation of your business...the consumer.
How else will you know what we need and want, what we would like to
see changed, and what we may be willing to pay for...if you don't
ask us?
In the end, "Trends in the O&P Industry" affect each of us,
perhaps in very different ways, but definitely, in very personal
ways.
Kathleen Spozio
Shippenville, PA
O&P Education Efforts Move Forward in Colombia
To the Editor:
This letter is to let you know about some wonderful O&P
developments in Colombia. Through the energetic leadership and
cooperation of a number of people, progress is being made toward
the establishment of high-quality O&P education in that
country. The O&P education program at Don Bosco University in
El Salvador is, of course, a bright O&P education light in
Latin America. There also are the important programs in Mexico and
Argentina, but there is a desperate need for many more such
programs.
The most active leadership has been provided by Jose Miguel
Gomez, MD, Gustavo Malagón, MD, and Kevin Meade, PhD.
Gomez is a native Colombian physician, trained in orthotics at
Century College and now living and working in Houston. Malagón
is a Colombian orthopedic surgeon, trained in the US and now rector
of Fundación Escuela Colombiana De Rehabilitación, also
known as EPC. Meade is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) and trained in orthotics at
Northwestern University. These three men, and a host of helpers,
organized an orthotic-prosthetic scientific conference held in
Bogotá May 15 through 18. The conference was titled
"Biomecánicas Avanzadas en el Tratamiento De Patologías
Deformativas del Sistema Osteomuscular." It was attended by about
170 people, including practicing orthotists, prosthetists,
therapists, and physicians from Bogotá (a city of ten million
people). Some students and professors (engineering and design) from
other Bogotá Universities also attended.
 The conference, which included patient evaluation,
casting, and fitting portions, as well as practical theory, was a
resounding success. However, what was even more important was that
it was a focus of cooperation between people of several
organizations. It stimulated excitement, additional discussions,
and visions of what better O&P education could accomplish to
improve orthopedic/rehabilitation care in Colombia.
It now appears that O&P education programs will be
established in both Centro Don Bosco, in Bogotá, and at
Escuela Colombiana de Rehabilitación (ECR), also in
Bogotá. The Centro Don Bosco program will be oriented toward
technician training. The program at ECR will be more tailored to
training clinical practitioners. ECR currently educates all of the
rehabilitation professional specialties (physical therapy,
occupational therapy, audiology, speech therapy, etc.) and has a
patient care component. Both Don Bosco and ECR will draw upon the
considerable professional resources available in Bogotá, but
they also will benefit from the help and cooperation we can provide
from the North. I sincerely hope we will support these programs in
a variety of ways.
Sincerely,
J. Martin Carlson, CPO
Tamarack President
Blaine, MN
P.S. My daughter accompanied me to Bogotá for this
conference and sightseeing opportunities. We traveled around much
of Bogotá and into the countryside in the vicinity. We always
experienced wonderful hospitality and very friendly people. We felt
entirely safe at all times. 
Table Of Contents - September 2006
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