Undergraduate prosthetics and orthotics teaching methods: A baseline for international comparison

Background: Education of Prosthetics and Orthotics is a relatively recent professional program. While there has been some work on various teaching methods and strategies in international medical education, limited publication exists within prosthetics and orthotics. Objectives: To identify the teaching and learning methods that are used in Bachelor-level prosthetics and orthotics programs that are given highest priority by expert prosthetics and orthotics instructors from regions enjoying a range of economic development. Study design: Mixed method. Methods: The study partly documented by this article utilized a mixed method approach (qualitative and quantitative methods) within which each phase provided data for other phases. It began with analysis of prosthetics and orthotics curricula documents, which was followed by a broad survey of instructors in this field and then a modified Delphi process. Results: The expert instructors who participated in this study gave high priority to student-centered, small group methods that encourage critical thinking and may lead to lifelong learning. Instructors from more developed nations placed higher priority on student's independent acquisition of prosthetics and orthotics knowledge, particularly in clinical training. Conclusions: Application of student-centered approaches to prosthetics and orthotics programs may be preferred by many experts, but there appeared to be regional differences in the priority given to different teaching methods.