Dankmeyer Coming and Going.....

Summertime is a busy time of year and also can be a time for change. Some change jobs, graduate from school, go on vacation, and some grill outside, swim and boat, enjoy baseball (Go O’s!), and count the days until football starts again. 

Dankmeyer is no exception to change and as a result, we are seeing some staffing changes this summer. This summer, we welcome two new Summer Interns, welcome back a familiar face, say goodbye to an intern and a practitioner.

Summer Interns: Noah Rogofsky and Kamilla Miller

Every summer, we welcome a few summer interns. These college students are interested in being immersed in day to day prosthetics and orthotics business operations. In the two months they are with is, they shadow clinicians, come to understand some fabrication techniques, learn about business operations and more. This summer, Noah and Kamilla are creating a suite of videos for Dankmeyer that we can use on our website and YouTube channel - exploring care and use instructions, basics on prosthetics and orthotics, and fabrication.

Kamilla is a senior at Towson University. She is planning to apply to O&P schools by the end of summer. She feels this internship experience at Dankmeyer is an incredible opportunity to learn about the daily responsibilities of a practitioner, while also being able to better understand the dynamic of patient and office interaction.

Noah Rogofsky is back for a second internship, as he was at Dankmeyer two years ago. Noah is a junior, majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of South Carolina. His goal at Dankmeyer is to gain some understanding of prosthetic patients and fabrication. He wants to eventually work in prosthetic design.

Tyler Treff is Back!

We also welcome back Tyler Treff - back for his 3rd summer with Dankmeyer. Tyler is Patient Services Coordinator Cindy French’s son. He will be working in the shop again this year stripping casts, sewing straps, making prosthetic socks and doing clean-up. He will be a Senior at North County High School this coming school year - a member of the Class of 2020! Tyler is planning on pursuing a career in the Coast Guard.

Tyler’s first summer job was at Dankmeyer, so he is a familiar face!

But, sadly, we also have a few goodbyes.

Michelle Forbus

Michelle’s last day with us as part of her residency program was the end of June. Michelle is part of the unique prosthetics and orthotics program at Baylor in Houston, TX. The Baylor College of Medicine Orthotics and Prosthetics graduates are eligible to sit for both Orthotics and Prosthetics board certification exams upon completion of their M.S. degree. As part of this program, Michelle will go to several different prosthetic and orthotic practices to do 3-6 month residency rotations. She has been with us at Dankmeyer for six months and has moved on for the next part of her training. We will miss her!

Nina Bondre, CPO

Nina Bondre, who has been with Dankmeyer since 2015, is leaving us at the end of June. Nina's first exposure to orthotics and prosthetics was during a high school internship at Dankmeyer. She completed her BS in Neuroscience at Duke University and then her master's degree in Prosthetics & Orthotics from Northwestern University. She came to Dankmeyer to complete her residency and has stayed with us since then - spearheading our Dankmeyer Academy education program on top her work as a clinician. Nina is leaving to pursue a job as a Clinical Educator with Cascade Prosthetic and Orthotic Supplies.



Mark Hopkins Attends Conference in Mexico

Mark Hopkins, CEO of Dankmeyer, Inc. (PT, CPO, MBA) spent the last week of April in Queretaro, Mexico attending the annual conference of Centro Para Rehabilitacion Integral de Minusvalidos Del Aparato Locomotor, or CRIMAL. CRIMAL is an organization that seeks to improve the lives of amputees. Based in Queretaro, Mexico, this organization has provided 2400 patients with prostheses and has hosted 6000 physical therapy sessions over the last 30 years. On staff they have prosthetists, physiotherapists, orthopedists, and psychologists to provide comprehensive care to patients from a variety of disciplines.

Our own Mark Hopkins’ visit this spring was an opportunity to work at CRIMAL along with physical therapists from Johns Hopkins, as well as Charles Dankmeyer, CPO. The team saw prosthetic patients in conjunction with the CRIMAL staff, and also hosted daily seminars for local physical therapists about amputee care and prosthetic training. Mark says, “It is a wonderful group of people committed to doing good work. I would encourage everyone to consider supporting their mission.”

We at Dankmeyer are proud to be part of this endeavor and look forward to taking part in future trips with CRIMAL. Take a look at some pictures from the trip and click here for their website (scroll to the bottom and select for an English translation).

April Limb Loss Awareness Month

Every year, the Amputee Coalition (AC) nationally promotes April as Limb Loss Awareness Month, and holds a number of events. Dankmeyer has been so happy to help promote and participate in Limb Loss Awareness Month once again. This year, we went all out for all orange shirts on Wednesdays, with staff members wearing any flavor of orange shirt they might have (and some of those might have been Baltimore Orioles related). We made orange ribbons for office visitors to pick up and wear to show their support. We posted on Facebook and Instagram, and we were even featured in the Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce newsletter.

Dankmeyer staff members (including 3DPO the 3D intern) show their support for Limb Loss Awareness!

Dankmeyer staff members (including 3DPO the 3D intern) show their support for Limb Loss Awareness!

Karen Russell. with the Central Maryland Chamber of Commerce, along with Robb Brown, Rochelle Dumm and Barbara Delorenzo, kick off Limb Loss Awareness month at Dankmeyer.

The northern Baltimore area office, located on the Sinai Hospital campus, hosted one of their “Coffee with Dankmeyer” events, which was orange themed! The office staff, Sheryl Sachs, CPO and Jeanne Smith, Patient Services Representative, proudly displayed a proclamation that they had presented to Governor Hogan to sign, declaring April to be Limb Loss Awareness Month in Maryland. This was part of a national effort by the AC to have a proclamation in every state. Even Moxie, Jeanne’s adopted English Setter mix, came in to get her new prosthesis and had her picture taken with her prosthetist, Jed Newhardt, CPO.

Jeanne also took a day again this year to participate in the annual Hill Day in Washington, DC and provided this report:

On April 3, I was one of 130 people on The Hill advocating for the Limb Loss and Limb Difference Community.  The day was spent meeting with elected officials to advocate and educate for insurance fairness, funding for research and programs, and protecting access for qualified prosthetic care.  Limb loss brings individuals to The Hill, but each person’s talents, uniqueness, compassion, determination, strengths and stories create the bond that makes them unstoppable. 

Thanks to all the elected officials and their staff for taking the time for our voices to be heard.  At the end of the day of meetings, a glance at my step tracker read 12,100 steps!  There were a lot of steps combined by all 130 participants to Amplify their voices for the Limb Loss Community. Hope to see you on The Hill in 2020!

A number of Dankmeyer patients participated in Limb Loss Awareness Month by posing for pictures to Show Their Mettle! for the month long event.

For more information on the month long series of events for Limb Loss Awareness, and all of the resources provided by the Amputee Coalition, click here.






Art Ross Wins 2nd in Creative Foot Shell Contest

Art Ross, one of Dankmeyer’s talented Fabrication Technicians, is a very creative guy. In addition to the magic he works when fabricating prostheses and orthoses, he is the mastermind behind 3DPO, directional signs inside the Linthicum office, some of our website and newsletter graphics and his famous chicken costumes. He is also well known around the office for his tongue-in-cheek foot shell designs.

You may remember when Art competed in the Orthotic & Prosthetic Activities Foundation (OPAF) foot shell decorating contest a few years ago. The OPAF and The First Clinic's Feet First annual contest challenges people in our field to take a prosthetic foot shell and decorate it any way they want. The winners are determined by a popular vote. It is an event that allows us to be creative and to be encouraged by the creativity of others.  This year Art decided to give it another go.

Congratulations to all those who submitted entries, but a special shout out to our own Art Ross for winning second place with his ToeTruck!

Welcome Michelle Forbus to Dankmeyer!

image1.jpg

If you see a new face at Dankmeyer’s Linthicum or Eastern Shore office, say hello to new resident Michelle Forbus. Michelle is part of the unique prosthetics and orthotics program at Baylor in Houston, TX. The Baylor College of Medicine Orthotics and Prosthetics Program is described on their website as “the only academic program in the nation in which the dual clinical residency requirements are included. Program graduates are eligible to sit for both Orthotics and Prosthetics board certification exams upon completion of their M.S. degree.” As part of this program, Michelle will go to several different prosthetic and orthotic practices to do 3-6 month residency rotations. She will be with us at Dankmeyer for six months and then leave for the next part of her training.

Originally from Crofton, Maryland, Michelle did her undergraduate work at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, majoring in Exercise Science. She was happy to return to Maryland to do a portion of her residency work close to friends and family. Outside the office, she enjoys hiking, swimming, and camping.