The goal of the Cambodian School of Prosthetics & Orthotics is to establish the foundation for sustainable physical rehabilitation services, by training students from developing countries to prescribe and fit prosthetic limbs and orthopaedic braces. By training local specialists, CSPO is reducing reliance on expatriate expertise.
CSPO provides prosthetics and orthotics training for students from low-income countries. Students learn how to prescribe, manufacture and fit artificial limbs (prostheses) and orthopaedic braces (orthoses). These devices are essential for the mobility and self-sufficiency of people who have lost their limbs or mobility due to landmines, accidents and disease.
CSPO is only school of Prosthetics and Orthotics in the world to hold ISO 9001:2000 certification.
CSPO holds ISPO Category II accreditation. Graduates are recognized internationally as professional prosthetist-orthotists.
Today CSPO is acting as a regional school and provides training for students from many developing countries. The student body currently includes men and women from Cambodia, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Indonesia, Iraq, Kiribati, Lao PDR, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Timor Leste.
Impact
Since CSPO was founded, 143 students have graduated. All the rehabilitation centres in Cambodia are now staffed by CSPO graduates. Many graduates have progressed to teaching or managerial positions, increasing the impact of their training. Former students from countries such as Iraq, Lao PDR, Burma, Timor Leste and Sri Lanka are now helping to develop their countries' rehabilitation services.
CSPO's impact. View larger map
Sustainability
CSPO is making good progress towards sustainability through income received from student sponsorships and through a gradual phase-out of expatriate teaching staff.
CSPO embarked on an ambitious 'train the trainers' programme to develop the skills of local staff members. The most talented former graduates of CSPO upgraded their skills to the level of Bachelor's Degree, through a new training course run in conjunction with La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Successful graduates of this programme will become the future leaders and educators of prosthetics and orthotics in Cambodia and other low income countries. 18 men and women have now graduated with Bachelor's Degrees: the first students in 2007 and the second intake in 2009.
La Trobe graduates 2007
