O&P Ribbon Cutting Preview

This Monday, August 15, 2022, Salus University will celebrate the launch of its inaugural Orthotics & Prosthetics (O&P) Program with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the new Orthotics and Prosthetics lab on the Elkins Park, Pennsylvania campus.

“The O&P program is creating an addition to the allied health package that Salus University provides and brings a rich education and service to the University and this particular geographic area”, said Chad Duncan, PhD, CRC, CPO, LPO, Orthotics & Prosthetics program chair/director.

The program recently received candidacy accreditation from the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) and will welcome its first cohort of students this fall. The O&P program will be the 14th in the country and only in the Philadelphia metro area.

​“The launching of the Orthotics and Prosthetics program is an exciting moment for us here at Salus because it means a new group of talented faculty and students joining our interprofessional educational community,” said James Konopack, PhD, dean of the College of Health Sciences, Education and Rehabilitation. ”It also means a lot to our broader community, as we'll be the only provider of orthotics and prosthetics graduate education in our region, so the program will make an immediate community health impact”.

The O&P program’s lab was made possible by a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant that will also contribute to revamping the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Laboratory on the Elkins Park campus. 

“The ADL Lab is an impressive facility situated in its new, central location on the top floor of our West building overlooking the Elkins Park campus,” said Dr. Konopack. “This beautiful, redesigned space will be used by students in multiple programs, especially those in the Occupational Therapy, Blindness and Low Vision Studies programs and Speech Language Pathology. The ADL Lab has everything the previous lab had and more, including a simulated apartment where our expert faculty can help students develop their skills.”