Alabama State University News April 15, 2014 Prosthetics & Orthotics Program Earns National Accreditation When Lauren Cartwright, Brett Parrish and Pete Williams receive their master's degree in prosthetics and orthotics during next month's Commencement Exercises at ASU, they will be the first students to graduate from the program, which recently received full accreditation. ASU's Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics (MSPO) program is now accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). The first students entered ASU's program in the fall of 2012, enrolling in the only university in the state of Alabama to offer the MSPO and one of only 13 colleges in the nation to offer the degree. "It is a tremendous accomplishment for ASU to receive accreditation on its first attempt. It's been a long two-year process with multiple accreditation phases," said Dr. J. Chad Duncan, chairman of the Prosthetics and Orthotics Department. "This accreditation also makes ASU the 10th program in the nation to receive accreditation at the master's level." The accreditation is especially important to the students in the program. "The accreditation allows our students to graduate then proceed directly to a 12-18 month residency. After completing their residency, they can sit for their boards, which allows them to become certified practitioners in prosthetics and orthotics," said Dr. Steven Chesbro, dean of the College of Health Sciences. "I want to commend Dr. Duncan and the team in the P&O Department. They put in a lot of hard work, making sure the students are where they need to be and obtaining this accreditation." "The students in our program could have gone anywhere else in the nation but decided to come to ASU. Now, they are a piece of ASU history, since ASU is the first accredited HBCU in the nation to have such a program," Duncan said. Cartwright said she knew she was making the right choice when she decided to come to ASU from Yukon, Okla., and enrolled in the MSPO program. "I decided to come to ASU after speaking with Dr. Duncan. I was very encouraged by how he planned to run the program, and I have enjoyed his commitment to making sure we received a well-rounded education," Cartwright said. "I took a risk coming here because the program was not accredited when I started, but it's accredited now... so the risk was well worth it." Duncan said news of the accreditation already is having a major impact. "When we first started we only had 10 applicants. This past round when we were still awaiting to hear about accreditation, we only had 25 applications. Once we received accreditation, our application pool jumped to 55 applicants," Duncan said. "Accreditation tells potential students that we at ASU are for real." For more information on the MSPO program, visit the website<http://www.alasu.edu/academics/colleges--departments/health-sciences/prosthetics-orthotics/index.aspx> or contact the College of Health Sciences at 334-229-5888. SANDRA M. PHOENIX Executive Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 800-999-8558, ext. 4820 404-702-5854 Skype: sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree NW Suite 200 Atlanta,GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (LYRASIS) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children. Register now http://www.hbculibraries.org/html/2014meeting-form.html for the October 26-28, 2014 HBCU Library Alliance 6th Membership Meeting in Atlanta GA!