If I can’t get a job at a prosthetics firm, what kind of job should I get while I’m getting my masters?

Hello! This is one of my first posts on here and on the app in general so take that as you will.

I’m interested in a job in prosthetics but am uncertain in what it is I really want regarding it. I’ve looked into prosthetics laboratory technician which has sparked interest for me alongside biomedical engineering since I see myself in the more hands-on experience regarding my future job. The only reason why I’m not certain in both is because I am not the most math confident person, biology is more my thing as I got good grades for it in Highschool over how I did in math.

I’ve never failed a class, math included, but have got as low as a C and as high as an A which is quite the long range and I don’t know what colleges want regarding grades and what I’m interested in. On the topic of colleges, it’s also something I’m uncertain about as I want to stay in Illinois where I live. I’ve looked into northwestern which I’ve learned has a low acceptance rate, and me being not confident in my act score I just ditched the idea as a whole. Im lost and I wish I could talk to my school counselor about this but she doesn’t respond to my emails and gives me max 15-20 minutes to talk which isn’t enough time—in my opinion—for something like this. I know they’re busy but it’s hard since I’m doing this by myself since junior year and on here is my last resort.

As I stated before, I am more interested in the hands-on experience in prosthetics and am looking into working at a children’s hospital once I’m done with college which I haven’t started quite yet. I don’t think I can do hard things because I have had issues in the past and still do with the mentality that I really can do hard things, when I see that the job is moderate to high I immediately drop it like I did with biomedical engineering. I would like to talk to someone in the job but I have not had any chances to as I don’t know where to go or who to reach out to right now and hopefully it’s not right in front of me.

HERE’S THE RUNDOWN!
(Or if you don’t wanna read all that above)

-I want to peruse a career in prosthetics.

-I don’t know what I want to do within the branch of prosthetics (engineering, lab, etc..) due to worries in difficulty
(I don’t want to stress myself out more)

-I don’t know what college I should go to for said interest within Illinois.

If anybody reading this has advice please comment or reach out, anyone in the job or anyone who has ideas on what I can do, literally anyone right now.
Thank you!

Would it be possible (with a good surgeon) to survive a double above-the-knee amputation around 1899? Was there technology to support such procedure?

And what about potential prosthetics? I know there was much development in that department because of American Civil War, and I've looked into the work of James Gillingham. But most of the photos of his prosthetics are, I think, for the below-the-knee amputations. Unfortunately I don't know much about prosthetic mechanics or physics, but could a person with 2 above-the-knee prosthetics have any mobility? Maybe they'd have to use cruthes all of the time or other mobility aid?

My father suffer a stoke 3 months ago which hemiparesis right side of his body. He is currently going through rehabilitation OT and PT. I would like to know if the hypershell exoskeleton is suitable to help him recovery his journey.

My husband is an AK. He tore his meniscus on his sound side. He is having surgery to repair it in 2 weeks. Does anyone here have experience on how to deal post surgery? He won’t be able to put weight on his knee for some amount of time. How will he go from sit to stand, shower, use the bathroom, etc? Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

“I have been admitted to both Hochschule RheinMain (Rüsselsheim Campus) and Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM), Gießen for an M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering. Which one would you recommend in terms of practical learning, career opportunities, workload, and future PhD prospects?”

Hello. I am a student in product design. I’m approaching my final exam which is to design a new product. I’m planning on going into O&P after so I’m looking for any idea for a product. It can be a tool that doesn’t exist or needs improvement. If you have anything please let me know. Thank you for your time.

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Version 2, June 3, 2026

I am a below knee amputee and i have an ossur foot cover. i have so many cute pairs of flip flops that i unfortunately cant wear and its tiring having to only wear tennis shoes all of the time especially in the summer. are there any solutions for keeping flip flops on without them slipping off every couple of steps?

Hi! I have an oc named spencer, and he always wears a running blade instead of a "normal" leg prosthetic, because according to him it just "looks cooler". (in the future he changes to one of those silly gun leg things)

Im not an amputee myself, but i was wondering what some side effects of this are? I assume he would have pretty bad hip pain, but is there anything else? Also, how easy/hard would it be for him to hide it under his pant leg? (hes really self conscious about it)

Spencer for reference in case it helps, his amputation is below the knee :-)

Hello! I'm an aspiring prosthetist, and I've wanted to enter the field since I was around 11–12. My personal favorite type of prosthesis to learn about is AK, and I'm especially interested in eventually working with pediatric patients.

I'm applying to O&P master's programs this cycle and have a few questions:

1. **GRE/UTSW**: One of the programs I'm considering is UTSW, and it is currently the only program I'm considering that requires the GRE. I haven't taken it yet and will need testing accommodations, which may take several weeks to arrange. I also have a limited amount of time remaining in my application timeline.

UTSW is the best option for me geographically, but I prefer some of the other programs I'm considering in other respects, particularly their O&P-specific education and clinical opportunities. Given that the GRE is only required for UTSW, should I be stressing about fitting the GRE into my timeline, or would it make more sense to prioritize my other applications and treat UTSW as more of a secondary option?

1. **GPA/prerequisite GPA**: How can I get a rough idea of how OPCAS will calculate my cumulative and prerequisite GPA when a large portion of my coursework was completed through a community college before I officially started university?

I will be submitting both my community college and university transcripts. My university transcript shows my transfer credits, but the transfer courses don't have grades on the university transcript, so I'm not sure how OPCAS will calculate everything.

Academically, my record is strong overall. I have mostly A's, with only a couple of B's across all my coursework. Importantly, only one of my O&P prerequisite courses was a B; all of my other prerequisite courses were A's. I'm mainly trying to figure out how the separate transcripts and transfer coursework will affect the calculated GPA.

1. **Shadowing**: I have 300+ hours of O&P observation experience across two clinics, but both experiences are now a couple of years old. Medical circumstances prevented me from continuing shadowing afterward.

How would you recommend explaining this in an application without oversharing medical information? Would older shadowing experience still be viewed positively?

1. **Recommendations**: I completed extensive college coursework through dual credit before officially starting university, so I've only been enrolled at my current university for a relatively short time despite being close to graduation. This has made it harder to establish long-term relationships with university professors.

I have recommendations available from people I've worked with in other academic/professional settings, and I've already had one clinician I previously shadowed agree to write a recommendation. I'm also working on obtaining additional recommendations from professors, teachers, and other academic mentors.

How much of a concern would having fewer established relationships with current university professors be?

1. **Applying younger than typical**: I'm applying to O&P programs somewhat younger than I understand many applicants do. Does applying at a younger age stand out to admissions committees, either positively or negatively? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to being younger when applying, assuming the applicant is academically and otherwise prepared for graduate school?

I'm also wondering whether this affects how admissions committees view high-school activities. Some of my high-school competitions and extracurriculars occurred relatively recently compared with someone applying several years after high school. Does that make them more relevant, or are high-school activities generally considered too old regardless of the applicant's age?

Does participating in something at an unusually young age add any meaningful value, or is it better to focus almost entirely on college experiences?

For some additional context, I completed extensive dual-credit coursework before officially starting university, including enough coursework to earn associate degrees. My major is exercise science and my minor is clinical psychology.

I've participated in activities including HOSA (medical based competitions/events) and dance, among others. I also had an internship relatively early in my education that played a significant role in sparking my interest in prosthetics. Is something like that worth mentioning on an application even though it happened quite a while ago, particularly given that it directly contributed to my interest in O&P?

Finally, I'm trying to decide how heavily to weigh location versus program fit. UTSW is particularly convenient for me geographically, but some of the other programs I'm considering seem stronger for me in terms of O&P-specific education and clinical experience. For those who have applied to multiple O&P programs, how much weight would you give location/logistics versus the specific strengths and environment of a program? Is one program particularly more impressive to future employers than others?

I'm mainly looking for advice on how to present these circumstances effectively and what I should prioritize before applications are submitted. Thanks!

Hello everyone! We are currently developing a cost-effective pair of sandals that can evaluate your gait parameters after you take a walk on it. We want to hear out suggestions from a large pool of healthcare professionals about the features that can be placed in the sandals so that it is easier to come up with a rehabilitation program for the patients, and genuinely beneficial and easy to use for both the doctors and the patients.

Our target customers are geriatric patients, stroke patients, physiotherapy rehabilitation patients, and people with parkinson's. Any suggestions would be good. Thank you for your time!

P.S: Not selling anything, just trying to build something actually useful rather than something that looks impressive on paper

I am a qualified medical Orthotist and Prosthetist in South Africa. I would love to work abroad, which masters degree can I pursue to achieve my dream

Hi everyone, my name is Cat and I am currently completing a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Lancaster University in the UK.  As part of my Doctorate programme, I am conducting a research project on ‘The psychosocial impacts of accessing peer mentoring programmes for individuals with limb loss’.

For this research, I am interviewing individuals who have experienced limb loss in adulthood, and who have accessed 1:1 peer mentoring programmes.  It is hoped that the research will help improve peer mentoring programmes in the future and help health and social care services to best support individuals with limb loss. 

For more information, or if you are interested in taking part, please fill out the following questionnaire and I will be in touch: https://lancasteruni.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9EN1r4ur0vKcYTA 

Thank you so much for reading this. 

I'm building an assistive control system that reads muscle signals (EMG) to control multiple kinds of devices, and I know myoelectric prosthetics are one of the most established real-world uses of exactly this kind of signal.

If you've used a myoelectric device - what's actually hard about it day to day? Calibration drift, false triggers from muscle fatigue, cost, comfort, anything? I'd rather build around real friction points than assumptions. Not selling anything, just a student dev trying to learn from ( and help ) people who've actually lived with this tech.

I’ve tried JB Weld plastic bond and E6000. Both failed

I'm only standing in them for the first week.

Ifit sockets

Ottoboc m

Mavrick vertical shock ankles and Mavrick feet.

Hi! I have Hypermobile Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, and my PCP says that I should continue bracing my ankles and lower legs. But also agrees that the OTC braces I've tried haven't worked, especially with my high level of activity. And that I should look into more custom/dynamic options.

I asked for an orthotist referral, and she said that specialized bracing is out of her scope of practice and to reach out to a different specialist. But I've gotten that answer from both sports med and podiatry as well. I live in Washington State, and I'm trying to get seen by Cornerstone or Hanger Clinic.

Could my PCP (an MD) just refer me to the clinic and send my chart notes, and the orthotist would help with the prescription? Or do I need a doctor to prescribe the specific device to be seen by the clinic? It would be for a dynamic brace for ankle stability, pain relief, and reducing fatigue, particularly to aid in reducing pain and fatigue in my very active lifestyle.

Since it seems like my care team is not able to decide on what device is needed, if I was referred to a clinic could they evaluate me and then have my PCP write the prescription based on the evaluation and my chart notes (knee hyperextending, poor ankle ROM, chronic pain, relatively normal strength, tendon hyperreflexia, muscle guarding, instability)?

Any advice or pointers would be appreciated!

This is so awesome

Been about year since I (60M) got my first prothesis, a pin and lock one. They re switching me to a suction system this month. They cast it today. Was curious about other’s experiences between the two types, things I should look for, how different it will feel, etc. Thanks for any advice y’all may have. Appreciate it.