Description
Design, measure, fit, and adapt orthopedic braces, appliances or prostheses, such as limbs or facial parts for patients with disabling conditions.
- • Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
- • Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
- • Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
- • Design orthopedic and prosthetic devices, based on physicians' prescriptions and examination and measurement of patients.
- • Maintain patients' records.
- • Make and modify plaster casts of areas to be fitted with prostheses or orthoses to guide the device construction process.
- • Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
- • Confer with physicians to formulate specifications and prescriptions for orthopedic or prosthetic devices.
- • Repair, rebuild, and modify prosthetic and orthopedic appliances.
- • Construct and fabricate appliances, or supervise others constructing the appliances.
- • Train and supervise support staff, such as orthopedic and prosthetic assistants and technicians.
- • Update skills and knowledge by attending conferences and seminars.
- • Show and explain orthopedic and prosthetic appliances to healthcare workers.
- • Research new ways to construct and use orthopedic and prosthetic devices.
- • Publish research findings or present them at conferences and seminars.
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Healthcare & Human Services
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Source
Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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This site includes information from O*NET by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. Career Clutch has modified some of this information for student readability. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Last reviewed: Jan 2026
