Orthotist and Prosthetist

What orthotists and prosthetists make

Job Bank's national median is $28 an hour, about $58,000 a year at 40 hours a week, with a low of $21 and a high of $40. That page pools this job with other health technicians. BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) gives higher figures for this career: residents can earn $60,000 to $70,000 a year, and certified prosthetists and orthotists $70,000 to $110,000, depending on location, experience and responsibilities.

Paid residency

Unlike most health internships, the residency is a paid job at a clinic.

Certified clinician

Hospital-based clinicians sit on health-authority grids. BCIT notes that owning a private clinic, which bills provincial assistive device programs and insurers, can add income, with the usual business risk.

What it costs to get there

Six years of tuition before you earn a full wage, but the two residency years are paid.

Benefits

• Public-sector benefits

  Rehab hospitals and children's treatment centres offer pensions and full coverage.

• Few graduates

  Only two schools outside Quebec train clinicians, and BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) takes a new class only every second year.

• Ownership

  Many clinicians eventually buy into or open a private clinic.

• Weekday hours

  Almost no evenings, nights or weekends.

The path to becoming an orthotist and prosthetist, step by step

Outside Quebec it is long and narrow: a degree, then one of only two programs, then a residency. Quebec has its own college route: tap Quebec route to add it.

1. 1

   High school

   Grade 12

   Physics, biology, math and shop or tech classes. This job is engineering, anatomy and craftsmanship at once.

2. 2

   Bachelor's degree

   4 years

   Any field, but kinesiology or a science degree with anatomy, physiology, physics, statistics and psychology is preferred.

3. 3

   Prosthetics and orthotics diploma

   2 years

   Two programs outside Quebec: BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) in Burnaby and George Brown College in Toronto. Quebec has its own French college program at Collège Montmorency and Collège Mérici. BCIT takes a small class every second year, only from the four western provinces, after interviews.

4. 4

   Residency

   2 years

   A 2-year paid residency in a clinic, in prosthetics or orthotics. You find the position yourself. Residencies are overseen by Orthotics Prosthetics Canada, the national certifying body.

5. 5

   Certification exam

   After the residency

   Pass the national exam to become a CO(c) (Certified Orthotist) or CP(c) (Certified Prosthetist). Many clinicians later do a second residency to hold both.

High school courses that help you become an orthotist and prosthetist

• Physics

  Forces, levers and materials are the science of a brace or a limb.

• Biology

  Anatomy and how the body moves and heals.

• Math

  Measurement, geometry and some statistics.

• Technology, shop or design

  You will shape plastics, carbon fibre and metal by hand and with 3D tools.

Time and money, at a glance

Not licensed, but certification is the standard

Outside Quebec, where you must join a professional order, no province licenses orthotists or prosthetists. Instead, Orthotics Prosthetics Canada certifies clinicians nationally, and hospitals, insurers and provincial device-funding programs will only pay for work by certified clinicians. In practice that makes the CO(c) (Certified Orthotist) and CP(c) (Certified Prosthetist) credentials mandatory, and they are recognized in every province.

Ways to grow

• Dual certification

  A second residency to hold both the orthotist and prosthetist credentials. Small clinics love it.

• Pediatrics

  Children's treatment centres need clinicians who can work with kids who are still growing.

• Clinic ownership

  BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) says ownership can add income. It also brings the most risk.

• Digital design and 3D printing

  Scanning and printing are replacing plaster casting. Clinicians who lead that shift are in demand.

Nice-to-haves

• Technician experience

  Working in a fabrication lab before the diploma shows you can build things and makes admission more likely.

• Hands-on hobbies

  Woodworking, sewing, bike repair, sculpture. Fine motor skill is graded.

• Volunteer time at a rehab hospital

  Programs want to see you have been around amputees and people with mobility loss.

• Willingness to move

  There are only two schools outside Quebec and the residency could be anywhere.

What an orthotist and prosthetist does day to day

Morning clinic: assess a new amputee's residual limb, take a cast or a digital scan, and plan a socket. Fit a child with scoliosis for a spinal brace and adjust it as they walk. Afternoon in the lab: modify a mould, shape thermoplastic, align a prosthetic knee, then bring the patient back to test it and adjust. Paperwork for the provincial funding program that pays for most devices.

The honest pros and cons of being an orthotist and prosthetist

Work life

Similar paths

• OpticianFit and sell glasses and contact lenses from a prescription. Two years of college (three in Quebec), a licence in every province, and a job that is half health care, half retail.
• Dental TechnologistMake the crowns, bridges, dentures and aligners a dentist prescribes, in a lab, never with a patient. Craft work that is going digital fast.
• Biomedical EngineerMedical devices, implants and hospital equipment. A small job market, and often a stepping stone to medicine or grad school.

West coast school, west coast students

BCIT (British Columbia Institute of Technology) restricts its prosthetics and orthotics program to residents of BC (British Columbia), Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Everyone else outside Quebec applies to George Brown.

The residency is a job

After the diploma you spend two years as a paid resident in a clinic before you can write the certification exam. You have to find the residency yourself, the way a new lawyer finds articling.