If you like Anatomy and enjoy working with your hands, you might want to consider a career making orthotics and prosthetic devices. There are only about five schools in the nation, but one of them is in Long Beach, CA. The school is Cal State Dominguez Hills, but the actual program where you attend is located in the Cal State Long Beach campus, because it is next to the VA Hospital where they have a lot of patients. The program is not competitive to get into since many people do not know about the field, so you can get C's in your classes and can still get in, and you can start as soon as you are ready since the classes are not usually full. No matter what the general economy is, there is always a demand for people in this field since 45,000 people a year lose a limb and are in need of a prosthetic device. This career pays $50,000 the first year. In 1 1/2 years, you can get level 1 Certification and will then earn about $65,000 a year. In another 1 1/2 years, you can get level 2 Certification and can earn about $80,000 a year. It is a Master's Degree program that includes both prosthetics and orthotics. It costs around $30,000 I think. Contact the Director, Mark Muller for details and to get a tour of the facility. His email is mmuller@csudh.edu
For more information, visit their website at https://www.csudh.edu/health-sciences/oandp/
Or learn more about the career at www.OPCareers.org
You first need to get a Bachelor's degree, including the following courses.
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Biology |
Minimum 3 units |
|
Chemistry |
Minimum 3 units |
|
Physics |
Minimum 3 units |
|
Psychology
|
Minimum 3 units |
|
Statistic and Probability |
Minimum 3 units |
|
Algebra or Higher Math |
Minimum 3 units |
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Human Anatomy and Physiology (with lab) |
Minimum 6 units |