Activities	Construct, fit, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices, such as braces, artificial limbs, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances.
Outlook	Average job growth
Median Income	$34,500 per year in 2008
Work Context & Conditions	Medical appliance technicians work indoors in an area that is environmentally controlled.
Minimum Education Requirements	Vocational High School Program General High School Program
Skills	Operations Analysis, Reading Comprehension, Technology Design
Abilities	Oral Expression, Control Precision, Visualization, Manual Dexterity
Interviews	Ron Dickey

Job Category		Installation, Maintenance, & Repair
Job Description		Medical appliance technicians construct, fit, maintain, and repair braces, artificial limbs, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances. They read prescriptions or detailed information from orthotists, podiatrists, or prosthetists. Orthotists treat patients who need braces, supports, or corrective shoes. podiatrists are doctors who treat foot problems and request the same appliances as orthotists. Prosthetists work with patients who need a replacement limb, such as an arm, leg, hand, or foot, due to a birth defect or an accident. The appliances are called orthoses and prostheses. Medical appliance technicians are also referred to as orthotic and prosthetic technicians. To accomplish these tasks, they lay out and mark dimensions of parts, using templates and precision measuring instruments. They construct or receive plaster cast of patient's torso or limbs to use as pattern for cutting and fabricating supportive devices.They also drill and tap holes for rivets, and glues, welds, bolts, and rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic device. If necessary, they bend, form, and shape fabric or material to conform to measurements for prescribed contours to fabricate structural components. Sometimes, they fabricate wax or plastic impression of amputated areas and prepare molds from impressions to form an artificial cosmetic ear, nose, or hand. Finally they polishes artificial limbs, braces, and supports, using grinding and buffing wheels and test medical supportive devices for body fit, alignment, movement, and biomechanical stability, using meters and alignment fixtures. Then they mix pigments according to formula to match skin coloring of patient and apply the mixture to prosthetic or orthotic device. These technicians instruct patients in the use of prosthetic or orthotic devices. They fit the appliance onto the patient and adjust it as necessary and cover or pad metal or plastic structures and devices, using coverings such as rubber, leather, felt, plastic, or fiberglass. They also repair and maintain medical supportive devices, according to specifications.
Working Conditions		Some medical appliance technicians work in health and personal care stores, while others work in public and private hospitals, professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers, offices of physicians, or consumer goods rental centers. They may travel to other regional clinics, and to attend conferences. Their workplace is indoors where they use their hands to fabricate or repair prosthetic or orthotic devices. To be effective, they should be accurate. Because they may be exposed to hazardous conditions, they wear protective clothing when necessary. They spend much of their time sitting or standing and often have to spend their time making repetitive motions.
Salary Range		The median annual income in 2008 for medical appliance technicians was $34,500. The middle 50 percent earned from $26,600 to $47,200. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $21,700 and the highest 10 percent earned $63,800.

Education Required		Medical appliance technicians begin as a helper and gradually learn new skills as they gain experience. Formal training is also available. There are currently 4 programs actively accredited by the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE). These programs offer either an associate degree for orthotics and prosthetic technicians or one-year certificate for orthotic technicians or prosthetic technicians. The programs instruct students on human anatomy and physiology, orthotic and prosthetic equipment and materials, and applied biomechanical principles to customize orthoses or prostheses. The programs also include clinical rotations to provide hands-on experience.
Recommended High School Courses		Mathematics, Physics, Design
Postsecondary Instructional Programs		Mathematics, Design, Engineering and Technology, Mechanical
Certification and Licensing

Interest Area		Realistic Involves working on practical, hands-on problems and solutions, often with real-world materials, tools, and machinery.
Work Values		Achievement Get a feeling of accomplishment. Moral Values Never pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong. Independence Work alone.
Skills		Operations Analysis Analyze needs and product requirements to create a design. Reading Comprehension Understand written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents. Technology Design Generate or adapt equipment and technology to serve user needs.
Abilities		Oral Expression Able to convey information and ideas through speech in ways that others will understand. Control Precision Able to quickly and repeatedly make precise adjustments in moving the controls of a machine or vehicle. Visualization Able to imagine how something will look after it's moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged. Manual Dexterity Able to make quick, coordinated movements of one or two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.

Related Jobs		Optician, Medical Equipment Preparer
Job Outlook		In 2008, there were 13,900 medical appliance technicians in the United States. The number of medical appliance technicians will grow faster than dental and ophthalmic laboratory technicians, with employment projected to increase about as fast as the average for all occupations, due to the increasing prevalence of the two leading causes of limb loss—diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Advances in technology may spur demand for prostheses that allow for greater movement.
More Information		American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists, Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification
References		Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition, Medical, Dental and Ophthalmic Laboratory Technicians, on the Internet at: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos238.htm O*NET OnLine, on the Internet at http://online.onetcenter.org/link/summary/51-9082.00