CSU Dominguez Hills Orthotics and Prosthetics Program Moves to VA Long Beach Medical Center

Aug. 20, 2009 - PRLog -- The California State University, Dominguez Hills Orthotics and Prosthetics (O&P) Program, in collaboration with the VA Long Beach Healthcare System (VALB), are pleased to announce its new location at the medical center.

The new 10,200-square-foot facility at VALB will provide unprecedented opportunities for O&P students to learn and veterans to receive the latest in prosthetic care. The new home at VALB also opens the doors for expanding the O&P program’s academic offerings, such as vocational training for returning veterans and continuing education for VA staff.

“Through the vision of Director Ron Norby and his VA Long Beach team, a state-of-the-art O&P teaching facility has been custom built to train the future generation of prosthetic and orthotic practitioners,” Scott Hornbeck, coordinator of the O&P Program said. “By interfacing with VA health personnel, our students will be exposed to state of the art medical practice and have access to the world class VA Gait laboratory for research. This is a golden opportunity for the CSU, the VA and people in need of prosthetic and orthotic services.”

The Department of Veterans Affairs is a world leader in prosthetics and rehabilitation. In fiscal year 2008, over 131 board-certified prosthetists and orthotists provided care to over 1.9 million veterans with a budget of $1.6 billion. Combined with over 25 years of educational excellence in O&P by CSU Dominguez Hills, one of only nine such programs in the nation and the only one in California, the collaboration anticipates graduating 48 highly trained students who will represent nearly 20 percent of the nation’s practitioners.

The O&P Program has been located at orthotics and prosthetics manufacturing company Ossur America in Aliso Viejo, Calif., since 2003. However the lease expired at the end of spring 2009 semester, and with plans to expand the program, the time had come to find a new location. VALB stepped up and generously agreed to renovate a storage facility in the northwest corner of its property to accommodate the program, while Ossur contributed all of the furniture, equipment, tools, and benches for the new facility.

The new facility, which will be named the VA Long Beach Healthcare System/CSU Dominguez Hills Center for Orthotics and Prosthetics, has been custom built for the O&P program and includes two classrooms, two technical laboratories, an instructional demonstration room, a dedicated patient examination room, a gait analysis area, a computer resource room, library, and faculty offices. It will begin serving students and the nation’s veterans within the month. This collaboration will ensure the combined mission of education that is shared by both CSU Dominguez Hills and VALB and continue VA’s mission to provide the best health care possible.

CSUDH O&P Program Quick Facts
•   One of only nine O&P programs in the country; only one in California.
•   The only accredited program of its kind in the nation offering both a bachelor’s degree and post graduate certification.
•   Offers bachelor’s degree in health science with prosthetics option.
•   Offers seven-month laboratory-intensive post graduate certification program in either prosthetics or orthotics
•   Graduates approximately 48 students each year.
•   Produces nearly 20 percent of O&P graduates nationwide.
•   Program established in 1983
•   Fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs

For more information about the CSU Dominguez Hills Orthotics and Prosthetics program, visit www.csudh.edu/oandp.

# # #

About California State University, Dominguez Hills: CSUDH is a highly diverse, urban university located in the South Bay, primarily serving the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The university prides itself on its outstanding faculty and friendly, student-centered environment. Known for excellence in teacher education, nursing, psychology, business administration, and digital media arts, new degree programs include computer science, criminal justice, recreation and leisure studies, social work, and communication disorders. On campus is the Home Depot Center, a multi-purpose sports complex that hosts world-class soccer, tennis, track and field, lacrosse, and cycling. www.csudh.edu