With 30 years of experience in this profession, orthopedic technology instructor
Tom Byrne takes pride in his work.
"It's an honorable career," says Byrne. "The rewards come when your technical
ability helps somebody."
To explain the position of orthopedic technologist on the health-care team,
he uses this analogy: "The doctors are the architects, and we are the contractors.
The doctor comes up with an idea of how to treat a patient, and we must come
up with that device."
Byrne says the most difficult part of this job would have to be dealing
with patients who are in pain. For six months, his students practice casting
on each other, then they must face real patients.
"When it comes down to reality, the person in front of you is injured and
the things you are doing may not relieve pain right away and may be uncomfortable
for the patient," he says. Since students get into this profession to help
people, he adds that it's sometimes difficult dealing with the trauma.
"The first issue that comes to mind that's complex is that you don't always
know how well trained you are until you face trauma in real life," says Byrne.
Although dealing with patients in pain may be extremely difficult at times,
to be an orthopedic technologist, you have to perform your job correctly under
all circumstances. "You must get it right."
Knowledge and practice are constantly evolving in this profession, so Byrne
urges anyone interested in becoming an ortho tech to consider
that you must keep up with changes. "Once you're in the business, you're never
going to stop learning. Some people believe you can train for this job, and
then you're done."
So what is a student to do? Byrne advises committing yourself to continuing
education. This is sound advice, considering that what was common practice
five years ago in this profession is no longer accepted.
"You're never going to know it all," says Byrne. "The day you think you
know it all, get out of the business."
Since bright and dedicated individuals seem to be drawn to this field,
the constant learning required is a plus.
Jane Villadiego says she learns something new every day. "It's very rewarding,"
she says. "You watch patients come in from day one with a break, and you follow
them all the way through to the end of their treatment."
She also enjoys meeting and working with patients of all ages and working
with the community. But she says the most difficult part can be working with
certain types of patients. "Patients who are not compliant can be a challenge."
Bob Casser is an orthopedic technologist. He agrees that the most difficult
part of the job is dealing with patients in trauma situations. "You have to
be extremely patient with people in pain. Sometimes they can be very uncooperative,
for obvious reasons."
Still, the reason Casser has remained in this profession is that he likes
people. "You get to meet a lot of different people and take part in making
them better. That's a great feeling."
He advises that anyone interested in this field should truly be a people
person.
"It's not like any other profession," he says. "Talk to people in the field
before you jump into it, because you have to be interested enough to keep
up with the constant changes. It takes commitment."