Welcome, Lisa and Congratulations Becca!

We have two pieces of news to share! A new Dankmeyer team member in Easton, and a significant career accomplishment to recognize.

Please join us in welcoming Lisa Dobson to Dankmeyer's Eastern Shore office. Lisa is a Patient Services Representative who is a native of the Eastern Shore. After living in Washington, DC for a while, she moved back to be with her three children and six grandchildren. She enjoys being with family and friends, and when those grandchildren are not keeping her busy, she enjoys bowling! She has worked in the medical field all her life and is a great addition to the Dankmeyer team. Welcome, Lisa!

Rebecca (Becca) Frost, CP, Resident Orthotist, recently passed her board exams to become a Certified Prosthetist. Becca now has six months left in her Orthotics Residency and has transitioned from the Eastern Shore office to the Linthicum office full time. Congratulations Becca on this important professional milestone!

Welcome Michelle Forbus to Dankmeyer!

If you see a relatively new face at Dankmeyer’s Eastern Shore office, say hello to our newest clinician, Michelle Forbus, Board Eligible Prosthetist Orthotist. Michelle spent six months with Dankmeyer as a resident in 2019 and recently completed the 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.”

Originally from Crofton, Maryland, Michelle did her undergraduate work at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD, majoring in Exercise Science. She is happy to return to Dankmeyer and Maryland to work close to friends and family. We are really happy to have her back, so say hello and welcome back when you see her!

Dankmeyer's Rebecca Snell New OPAF Board Member

Congratulations to Dankmeyer's IT & Marketing Director, Rebecca "Becky" Snell, who is a new member of the Orthotics and Prosthetics Activity Foundation's Board of Directors. OPAF is celebrating its 25th year of providing activity "firsts" to the mobility impaired. First Swim, First Dance, and First Climb are among the many activities that OPAF runs to encourage discovery of new physical activities, or rediscovery for those who are trying favorite activities under new circumstances.

Snell, an avid runner, cyclist and hiker, is very excited to be working with the group. At the Amputee Coalition's summer convention, she attended a First Dance where Adrianne Haslet (the professional ballroom dancer who lost her leg in the Boston Marathon bombing) taught a room full of amputees how to salsa. "I am embarrassed by my own dancing, and I have full mobility. Adrianne made me feel like I could salsa and Texas Two-Step along with everyone else who was having so much fun! There is a first time for everything!" You can visit the OPAF website for more information about the organization and upcoming activities.

Dankmeyer at the Maryland STEM Festival

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Art Ross ready to assemble a device.

Several Dankmeyer staff members participated in the day long Maryland STEM Festival on November 7, 2019. STEM is the shorthand for a Science Technology Engineering Math education concentration. Six hundred excited middle school students attended this great event at the Bioscience Education Center at Montgomery College. The room was full of energy as the first group of three hundred students entered the conference center. Art Ross (Fabrication Technician) and Becca Frost (Board Eligible Prosthetist, Resident Orthotist) joined Dawn Miranda (Dawn Miranda, Prosthetist Assistant) to represent Dankmeyer, Inc. at the festival to inform students about the field of Prosthetics and Orthotics.

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Art Ross shows a student some components.

The students came full of questions and were eager to try all of the prosthetic components we brought for them to take apart and put together. Each student had an opportunity to see what our daily jobs entail. They could have the experience of an upper limb amputee by using a manual below the elbow arm with a hook that they could put on and then try to pick things up by manipulating the hook. They also could wear an Iwalk 2.0 device to get the feel of how someone with below the knee limb loss has to balance and step. These devices gave the students a better awareness of how an amputee feels in the beginning when they are new to wearing a prosthetic arm or leg.

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Becca Frost works on an arm.

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A student tries a hook.

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Dawn shows a student an IWalk device.

A variety of other vendors was present to teach the students about many other STEM related fields they could study and work in. The students saw demonstrations on how to field dress limbs (not real ones!) and save lives (the Army trauma response team), presentations from agriculture groups, and the ever popular experiments that helped kids make slime and understand the chemical properties of the materials involved. The animal awareness group had tarantulas, a Leopard Spotted lizard, Bearded Dragon lizard and various exotic bugs to let everyone touch. These activities demonstrated how science plays into our animal ecosystem.

This event was a great time for all and I think students and vendors alike learned so much from each other. It will be a pleasure to attend next year!

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Please enjoy a little slide show of our interactions with the students! If you have any questions about any of the devices, or want to understand better limb loss or the need for orthoses (braces), or how to become a prosthetist, orthotist or a fabrication technician, then email info@dankmeyer.com and we will be happy to answer!

• Dawn Miranda, Prosthetist Assistant

Congratulations, Rochelle Dumm, CPO!

Please join us in congratulating Rochelle Dumm on passing her board examinations to make her a Certified Prosthetist! Rochelle had completed her orthotic residency at another facility, and came to Dankmeyer to complete her prosthetic residency. Along the way, she passed her boards for orthotics and became a Certified Orthotist. Now she is a CPO! We are so happy to have her as part of the Dankmeyer family. Well done, Rochelle!