Let’s Celebrate International Prosthetics and Orthotics Day

To many of us Prosthetics and Orthotics (P&O) means devices like artificial limbs or leg braces. But a device is only a means to an end and P&O is really about enabling people with disabilities to gain independence, go to school, get jobs and enjoy life.

High quality P&O services depend on training, standards, skills, experience, commitment, empathy and more. But we’ve chosen to mark International P&O Day by focusing on Education and Training for P&O professionals and its central role in putting people first.

Patient-centred services rely on P&O clinicians and technicians who focus on what’s best for their patients. Clinicians assess patients, fit and adjust devices, train people to use them and provide lifelong, follow-up support. Technicians support clinicians by manufacturing, repairing and replacing devices.

Exceed’s specialist P&O school in Cambodia, established in 1994, trains P&O clinicians and technicians to international standards, with a strong focus on clinical skills and patient interaction, so that the services they provide match or exceed patient’s expectations. Most of the students trained by Exceed come from disadvantaged backgrounds and we encourage you to support our fundraising campaign for P&O student scholarships.

It takes 3 years to train a P&O clinician, at a cost of $36,000, while a one-year technician course cost $8,000, so please support our campaign if you and helps us to put people with disabilities first.

You can help support our scholarship appeal here:

Exceed CEO features in Nippon Foundation article

Our CEO, Sisary Kheng, featured in a recent article from the Nippon Foundation titled "Empowering Change-Makers: Case Studies from The Nippon Foundation's Global Scholarship Network"

Sisary Kheng (second from left) with Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Bovor Thepadei Hun Manet (center right), Ichiro Kabasawa, Executive Director of The Nippon Foundation (center left), and Carson Harte, former CEO of Exceed Worldwide (second from right) during a courtesy meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh on August 5, 2024.

Sisary was celebrated for empowering local leaders to build self-sustaining healthcare systems, something you can help with by supporting our student scholarship campaign HERE.

You can read the full Nippon article HERE.

Exceed attend regional P&O meeting in Chad

Exceed Worldwide was invited to share its more than 30 years experiences in the field of rehabilitation in Chad. Exceed PO&POT education program in Cambodia has been providing training to many students from Africa such as Malawi, Zambia, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, Gambia. We joined the South-to-South Exchange Program for capacity building and promoting the quality of rehabilitation services.

Exceed was represented by our Country Director for Cambodia Thearith Heang.

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

‘LMIC LIMBS’ Report Published

Exceed Research Network member, the University of Southampton has published a final report on the ‘LMIC LIMBS’ project. This multi-partner research programme focused on appropriate digital technologies to improve Prosthetic and Orthotics (P&O) services and increase access to these services in lower resource settings. 

The project was based on the fundamentals of collaboration and co-design, to ensure that it was driven by technology pull, rather than technology push and the research team included academics from the Universities of Southampton and Salford, NHS (UK National Health Service) prosthetic rehabilitation specialists and NGO Exceed Worldwide. 

By working with stakeholders to design and implement the project, LMIC LIMBS ensured that the digital technologies being explored were appropriate, suitable, and sustainable in the context of lower-resource settings. The research was conducted in Cambodia - which has a network of physical rehabilitation centres providing P&O services to the population - and included research capacity building for Exceed Worldwide staff.

View the full report here.