Two schools offer Minnesota's only degrees in the growing field of orthotics and prosthetics

Erin Mooney sliced through a piece of leather, creating part of a cuff to comfortably hold a prosthetic leg in place.

"I always loved building things, figuring out how things work," Mooney said. "All of a sudden, it's a leg."

Mooney is finishing a degree in the orthotics and prosthetics program at Century College in White Bear Lake. It's the only one of its kind in Minnesota, offering a range of diplomas and degrees in the field, including a master's, in collaboration with Concordia University, St. Paul.

The partnership between the schools provides a steady stream of new professionals to a field that's growing in Minnesota to serve an aging population.

It also allows students from both schools to use Century's high-tech orthotics and prosthetics labs, avoiding the need for duplication.

"One of the true joys is that we have the two-year public school and we have a four-year private university working together," said Lana Huberty, the kinesiology program dean at Concordia University. "Our hearts are in the same place."

Nationally, the orthotics and prosthetics field is projected to increase 15% from 2023 to 2033, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, much faster growth than the average influx for all jobs.

"The baby boomer population is aging and there's inherently so much more need that, even with additional schools coming on board, ... I would say we're still not meeting industry need," said Amy Funke, the orthotics and prosthetics department head at Concordia University.

Century College, a public community and technical college that's part of the Minnesota State system, started the country's first orthotics and prosthetics technician program 50 years ago this year. It's one of about a dozen orthotics and prosthetics programs in the U.S.

About a decade ago, as pathways to different jobs in the field were standardized, Century began partnering with Concordia to offer bachelor's and master's degrees since they were beyond the scope of a two-year school.

Today, the program draws 90 students from many walks of life — from engineers to artists, nurses to exercise science majors; many have a personal connection to someone who uses an orthosis or prosthesis.

"When you're in this profession, there's just nothing more meaningful than giving somebody something that allows them to be mobile in the way they desire," said Joanna Kenton, an orthotics and prosthetics program director and faculty member at Century College.

Hands-on experience

On a recent weekday morning at Century College, small groups of students in a clinical application class talked with community members who had lost a limb.

Students jotted down measurements and created plaster cast of where each person's limb ended and their prosthesis typically attached. Eventually, the students will craft a new, temporary prostheses for the patients, who will come back for fittings and so students can evaluate how well their device works in real life.

The people with limb loss — who act as "patient-models" — come from "all corners of the community," said Roger Wagner, a professor in the program. On this day, two of the four were graduates of the program themselves.

"We're providing and teaching all the clinical skills they would use in the field," said Wagner, who previously worked at a large orthotics and prosthetics company. "I run this classroom just like I managed my office."

Luke Lampat, a master's student, traced the outline where amputee Kelly Yun's leg ended onto a stocking, highlighting the bony parts he'd have to carve out space for when later making a plaster model. Yun, a consultant at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, lost her leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident and is also a program graduate.

"I'm just a big fan of the patient-model, just having real-world experience," Lampat said.

In the master's program, most of the orthosis and prosthesis fabrication process is taught at Century while the clinical side is covered through classes at both schools. Much of the coursework is online.

Kurt Bertelsen, who lost his right leg below the knee due to diabetes, sat on a table as students measured his leg's length and circumference. Bertelsen received his orthotics and prosthetics diploma through the program last May and returns as a patient-model to help current students.

"Going through the amputee process and interacting with my prosthesis, I became interested in the whole thing," he said.

'Your legs are everything'

Ed Haddon is one of four people who helped start Century's orthotics and prosthetics program in 1975. He received the only bachelor's degree in orthotics and prosthetics the University of Minnesota ever awarded and went on to teach at Century for 35 years.

After the U discontinued the program for accreditation reasons, the program found a home at Century as the college was first starting.

"We were really filling a need that nobody else could," he said.

The program's highlight is that it offers a full "career ladder" of options, from diplomas to master's degrees, he said.

"We've got it all. There's no other institution that offers that," he said.

Haddon said that Century, now working with Concordia, has created more than just a degree program.

"We actually have built a profession and an industry in the metro area," he said.

The program has a 95% placement rate overall; Haddon said there's enough jobs in the Twin Cities for about 50% to 60% of graduates, with the rest finding work out of state.

Mohamed Ahmed is getting his master's degree so he can help people on the other side of the world, in countries like Somalia and Yemen. An amputee himself, Ahmed has a high-tech, computerized knee called a "c-leg." But in the developing world, many people who need prostheses don't have access to them. He aims to learn to make and fit prostheses so people can fully live their lives.

"In the third world, your legs [are] everything," he said. "I want to train amputees so they can be independent."