Dankmeyer at AOPA 2021 in Boston!

This year Dankmeyer team members were selected to speak at the American Orthotics and Prosthetics Association (AOPA) National Assembly and others were part of a committee to review grant proposals. The annual assembly is held in the fall and all members of the prosthetic and orthotic community, along with industry vendors, meet for clinical and business education sessions.

This year the event was held in person in Boston, MA, with a virtual option available for the following week. After last year’s virtual only event due to COVID restrictions, it was a wonderful opportunity for attendees to see each other in person. Following COVID protocols set by the state of Massachusetts and Boston, attendees were masked and attended education sessions in rooms staged for social distancing.

Jeremy Halteman, CPO, presented his paper "Atypical OI Alignment and Transfer, A Case Study", as part of the virtual education program. Months prior to the event, Jeremy recorded his session, which was then available as part of the live event for interested parties to view and then again for the virtual event.

Rebecca Snell, IT & Marketing Director, was one of three submissions selected to present as part of the annual Sam Hamontree Business Education Award series. Her business paper "Adverse Outcomes Audit: Using Simplified Six Sigma as a Loss Control Measure" was selected by attendees as the winner of this year’s prestigious award.

Sheryl Sachs, CPO and Jeremy also were members of a team that reviewed grant submissions to AOPA.

Jeremy and Rebecca were very honored to be able to present to attendees and they can still be seen along with all other presentations for those registered for the virtual program. Next year the AOPA National Assembly will be in San Antonio, Texas, September 28 - October 1, 2022.

Welcome to Dankmeyer, Hailey Peret!

Our Eastern Shore office recently welcomed a new face to the front desk. We are very happy to have Hailey Peret join the Dankmeyer family as a Patient Services Representative. Hailey grew up in Annapolis, Maryland and she attended Anne Arundel Community College. She currently resides in Easton, making for a short commute!

Hailey is no stranger to healthcare, as she previously worked in her family’s physical therapy clinic. She is passionate about patient care, and she is thrilled to continue working in patient care at Dankmeyer where she will learn more about prosthetics and orthotics. Prosthetics and orthotics practitioners have a close relationship with physical therapists as clinical partners working together to meet their patients’ needs.

Outside of work she enjoys horseback riding, traveling, and photography. Please say hello when you see her!

Summer Interns Say Goodbye!

This year we welcomed Cecelia Lamancusa (below left) and Chesca Basillo (below right) as our summer interns. Their six week stay with us was all too brief, and Friday, August 6th, they ended their summer program and said goodbye. In addition to shadowing clinicians and learning about fabrication, they each had a project to focus on with a Dankmeyer mentor.

Cecelia moves on in a few weeks to her first semester at the Prosthetics and Orthotics master’s program at the University of Pittsburgh. She had this to say about her summer with Dankmeyer:

"During my internship, I shadowed prosthetists and orthotists as they interacted with various patients, either in need of prosthetic limbs or braces. I observed and provided assistance as they evaluated, casted molds, and fitted prostheses and orthoses for each client. When I wasn’t shadowing, I was writing, recording, and editing for a video project that was meant to encompass what is a prosthesis. Through this project, I interviewed patients that wanted to share their experience. They were all filled with passion and pride as they talked about their prosthetic limbs. They were also not afraid to discuss the hardships that come with wearing a prosthesis. I gained a better understanding of the complexity of a prosthesis and how it’s so much more than a device. While my previous internships always allowed me to see the perspective of the practitioners, this one allowed me to also see and understand the perspective of the amputee."

While Cecelia spent time behind the camera, Chesca was focused on working in the lab on various 3D printing research projects, which she will be able to use when she applies to prosthetics and orthotics programs this fall.

“During the six weeks at Dankmeyer, my project was centered around the 3D printers. I have assisted with calibrating different filaments and adjusting settings to ensure the best quality in a print. After calibration, custom parts for AFOs and prostheses were drawn up in a CAD software, sliced, and printed to be used for fabrication. For example, a test socket was printed out of PCTG (a plastic resin). This filament is clear when printed properly and can be heat molded, making it a functional material to print a test socket. Along with 3D printing, I got to use my experience in a research lab and applied my knowledge by helping with a current prosthetic foot study that Dankmeyer was participating in for Ottobock.”

Chesca produced and organized binders full of information. She helped collect data and did some data entry and fact checking for this study. You can see the results of some of her 3D printer work below. The picture on the left shows bridging calibration shapes. Some are better than others, but that’s the point; to fine tune the printer to the specific material. On the right, you see a close-up of a calibration cube out of nylon. The cube on the left is an early print (notice the rough edges, blobs, and poor definition), the right is after the printer settings were tuned for the material.

We are sorry to see them go, but very happy to have contributed to their knowledge of O&P. We look forward to seeing their great contributions to the O&P profession.

Summer Interns Cecelia and Chesca join Clinical Team

Being able to resume our summer intern program with the lifting of COVID restrictions is very rewarding, as education is a very important part of our mission. This year we welcome Chesca Basillo and Cecelia Lamancusa. Both Chesca and Cecelia are pursuing careers in prosthetics and orthotics and spending time in a P&O practice gives them the opportunity to continue their hands on education in a busy practice. Cecelia spent some of her summer of 2017 with us, and also a few weeks in January 2019 before COVID began to shut things down.

Chesca and Cecelia wrote a few words to introduce themselves.

My name is Chesca Basilio and I am interning this summer at Dankmeyer. I am a rising senior at the University of Delaware, studying biomedical engineering. Outside of class, I am involved in a disability advocacy and design club that makes custom assistive devices for families in the local community. I also enjoy going to concerts and traveling to new areas. In the fall, I will be applying to graduate programs in Prosthetics and Orthotics. I am looking forward to learning more about the field to prepare for my future studies.

Hello, my name is Cecelia Lamancusa. I’m a college graduate of Dickinson College and I’ll be starting my first semester at the Prosthetics and Orthotics master’s program of the University of Pittsburgh. I hope that this internship will not only give me a wider and fuller prospective of the field, but also have me more than ready for my first classes in grad school. I enjoy looking at and making artworks, especially sculptural works. I also enjoy baking and taking cute pictures of my cats.

Welcome them when you see them, Chesca (left) and Cecelia (right) when they are not with patients, and if you see them in patient areas, masked!

Welcome, Kayla Iman!

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Dankmeyer has a long tradition of introducing high school and college students to prosthetics and orthotics through work and study in various short term summer programs. As you can well imagine, some of our team members have children in this age group who might be wondering what is going on in an orthotics and prosthetics office. We enjoy teaching them what we do, so they can better understand mobility impairment, the issues faced by our patients, how devices are fabricated and worn, and how an office such as ours is run.

This summer, we welcome to the Cumberland area office Kayla Iman. Kayla is Patient Services Representative Heather Iman’s daughter. Heather has been working in the Cumberland office for five years and is now giving Kayla a close up look at what patient administration looks like. Kayla writes this:

My name is Kayla Iman and I am a recent high school graduate.  In the fall, I will be attending Allegany College of Maryland seeking a degree in Massage Therapy as well as attending the Bedford County Tech Center’s Cosmetology program to complete my hours to become a licensed Cosmetologist.  For the summer, I am answering the phones and scheduling patients for Dankmeyer from their Cumberland office location.   I am excited to be part of the Dankmeyer Team and look forward to meeting everyone in person and via phone!  I am grateful for the opportunity to learn about orthotics and prosthetics and cannot wait to see what the summer brings.

So if you call the office and hear a new voice, it might be Kayla’s - or she might be on the other end of the line with a confirmation call, or making an appointment. Welcome, Kayla!

Kyla and Heather at the Children’s League walk/run event last fall.