A cause of absence of PO care in many situations is the lack of qualified and trained Prosthetists/Orthotists to provide the care. The lack of professional recognition and accreditation in specific settings hinder the awareness of other professionals or accessibility of users to their entitled services.
PO professional integration into the government employment cadre with other relevant issues around CPD, career-pathway, and professional council registration remain an issue for some countries. The interactions from policy makers, institutional implementation of interdisciplinary practice to public awareness are emergent to promote the professional recognition through system thinking, investment in professional resource development, capacity enhancement and standardized quality service provision in prosthetic and orthotic services. Long-term vision of pre-service education, in-service training, and career development in the national strategic plan for PO and health professionals with actionable priorities, government budget investments, review and monitoring plan for capacity development and enhancement are eminent.
The coverage and provision of prosthetic and orthotic services within the roadmap toward UHC and Rehab 20230 agenda. Nevertheless, these cannot be attained without adequate PO workforce where triple-layers challenges may lie around absorption of PO into government system, recognition level of PO in healthcare system, and accreditation of professional practice in formal employment sector.
Both, training programme and local professional association play essential roles in advocating and promoting professional recognition and accreditation. The case study of Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar present three diverse experiences on the journey toward professional integration into local government cadre from challenges to progress and success.
Statement of the objective / learning objectives
Share and exchange experiences of success, journey toward, and challenges facing PO professional accreditation in Thailand, Cambodia, and Myanmar through the intersections of significant roles of training programme, investment and the professional national policy.
