First school of prosthetics and orthotics inaugurated

MANILA, Philippines - The formal inauguration of the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center Inc. (UERMMMCI) School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (PSPO) on April 17 at its Aurora Blvd., Quezon City campus provides a new source of hope for the country’s 4.5 million people with disabilities, many of whom belong to underprivileged families without any means of access to mobility devices.

The school, the first of its kind in the Philippines, offers a specialized curriculum that will train students how to design, fabricate and fit artificial limbs (prosthetics) and custom orthopedic devices (orthotics), a professional skill that is seriously needed in the country.

 The Nippon Foundation and Cambodia Trust have pledged to give a $7 million grant for the PSPO curriculum spread over 10 years through a memorandum of understanding between UERMMMCI president Romeo A. Divinagracia, Nippon Foundation chairman Yohei Sasakawa and Cambodia Trust executive director Carson Harte. The PSPO will be under the UERMMMCI College of Allied Rehabilitation Sciences and will be based on World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics standards (ISPO).

Inquiries on PSPO are welcome at tel. no. 713-3312.