Exceed Scholarship Appeal

Urgent call to help us train the next generation of Prosthetist Orthotists in Cambodia

People with disabilities who need Prosthetic and Orthotic (P&O) services depend on the highly trained specialists who deliver life-changing treatments.

P&O services are delivered by Prosthetist-Orthotists (POs) and Prosthetic/Orthotic Technicians (POTs), but there is a global shortage of these professionals. In most lower-income countries, it is estimated that 80-90% of those who need P&O support cannot access services.

Exceed’s internationally-renowned Cambodia School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CSPO) – now called the Department of P&O at the National Institute of Social Affairs – has trained P&O students from disadvantaged backgrounds in Cambodia and 30 other lower resource countries for many years. Most of these students depend upon scholarships but, in current economic conditions, these essential scholarships are very difficult to find.

This has the potential to make the global shortage of P&O professionals even worse.

That’s why Exceed is launching a global appeal for individuals and organisations to sponsor P&O students from disadvantaged backgrounds to study in Cambodia:

Associate Prosthetist-Orthotist (APO) – a 3-year residential programme costing $12,000 per year ($36,000 in total), covering tuition, travel and all other costs. APOs are clinicians who will each treat up to 10,000 patients over their careers.

Prosthetic/Orthotic Technician (POT) – a 1-year residential course costing $8,000. POTs are trained to manufacture P&O devices, enabling APOs to focus on clinical practice and maximise the number of patients they can treat.

APOs and POTs are trained to international standards set by the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics and the World Health Organisation. They are a vital element in the physical rehabilitation care pathway, which cannot exist without P&O professionals.

Please help us to train the next generation of P&O professionals by sponsoring a student from a disadvantaged background to train with Exceed. For more information, please contact one of the following people:

Sisary Kheng, CEO Exceed Worldwide – sisary@exceed-worldwide.org
Thearith Heang, Country Director, Exceed Cambodia – thearith@exceed-worldwide.org
Phearsa Thor, Head of Student Teaching, Exceed Cambodia – phearsa@exceed-worldwide.org

P&O professionals trained by Exceed have supported 3 million people with disabilities across 30 lower income countries.

Losing mobility, through limb loss or other reasons, can have devastating social and economic impacts, dramatically limiting access to work, social interaction, livelihood and independence. In poorly resourced countries, treatment and support services are not available to the vast majority of those who need them and these challenges are amplified.

The Exceed organisation has worked in Southeast Asia since 1989, to support people with disabilities, restore mobility and enable dependents to become independent contributors to society by:

Equipping – our NGO, Exceed Worldwide, trains local Prosthetic and Orthotic (P&O) professionals to provide high quality services.

Enabling – Exceed Worldwide provides accessible services for the most disadvantaged and supports people with disabilities in their communities to access education, training, employment or self-employment.

Empowering – advocating for disability rights and using research by the Exceed Research Network to find innovative ways to increase access to sustainable P&O services based on patients’ preferences and choices.

Research & innovation - comes from listening to patients and the P&O workforce and being aware of wider social and economic trends. Feedback from research has led to the launch of Exceed Social Enterprises and public private partnerships, which offers P&O patients choice and creates sustainable funding streams to support service provision for the most disadvantaged and increase access to services for all.

In countries where 90% of those who need P&O support cannot access services, the future is about new thinking and innovation. A growing P&O sector will come from a developing mix of philanthropic, private and public services and partnerships and Exceed is leading the way.