Prosthetic & Orthotic Educational Programs

Table of Contents:

History

Faculty advises a male Orthotic/Prosthetic Technician (S102) student in the lab as he designs a prosthetic limb.

The George Brown College Prosthetic & Orthotic programs has supplied personnel for the Prosthetic and Orthotic profession for over thirty years. It has the only full-time technical training program in Canada and one of three in North America. Throughout the seventies the program had an optional third year that was clinically based. After the inception of the two year Clinical Methods in Orthotics and Prosthetics program in 1979, the optional third year was discontinued.

The first class was selected in the Spring of 1970 and the Prosthetic-Orthotic Technician Program began the following September. At that time, the program was based out of the Casa Loma Campus at George Brown College. Due to the lack of available space at the Casa Loma Campus and the lack of proximity to a patient care facility, both of the College's Prosthetic & Orthotic programs moved to West Park Hospital (Weston) in the summer of 1981. In the summer of 1995 the programs moved to the Sunnybrook Health Science Centre and are currently located in the Sunnybrook Centre for Independent Living (SCIL). Over 8,000 square feet of space was renovated and allocated solely for the programs use. The programs are now located in one of the best facilities for Prosthetic & Orthotic education in the world.

The George Brown College Prosthetic-Orthotic Technician Program is the only technical training program in Prosthetics and Orthotics in Canada. It is a two-year diploma program which accepts twenty-five students each year. All students entering the program have at least the equivalent of an Ontario High School Graduation Diploma. Many also have varying degrees of work-related experience or have completed a previous University or College program.

Female Orthotic/Prosthetic Technician (S102) student at work on a prosthetic leg.

The Clinical Methods in Orthotics and Prosthetics Program evolved out of the current two year Prosthetic-Orthotic Technician Program. Due to the natural progression of the profession and the demand for higher skilled clinical professionals, a strong movement formed to initiate a new program solely dedicated to the development of clinical skills necessary to enter the Prosthetic and Orthotic profession. In the late 1970's, the following group of individuals were instrumental in the creation of the program:

  • Dr. Geoff Fernie, Ph.D., P.Eng.,
  • Karl Ruder, C.P.O., F.C.B.C.,
  • Jack Bradbury, C.P.O., F.C.B.C.
  • Dieter Bochmann, C.P.O., F.C.B.C,
  • Guy Martel, C.P.O., F.C.B.C.

The program's first class was selected in the Spring of 1979 and the program began the following September. The program's first two years were based out of the Casa Loma Campus at George Brown College with clinical sites at West Park Hospital, and the Ontario Crippled Children Centre (now the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital) in the Toronto region, and Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals in Hamilton (now the Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre).

Two female Clinical Method in Orthotics/Prosthetic (S407) students provide an elderly male client with instructions about his new prosthetic limb.

Faculty

Full-time Faculty:

  • Gord Ruder, B.Sc., M.Sc., C.O.(c), F.C.B.C - Coordinator
  • Amy Richardson, B.Sc., M.Sc., C.P.(c)

Part-time Faculty:

  • Dan Blocka, B.Sc., C.O. (c), F.C.B.C.
  • Roger Castro, R.T.O.(c)
  • Adrienne Cuch, M.Sc., CO(c)
  • Kevin Fraser, C.Ped(c), C.Ped. Tech(c), BA
  • Holly Houston, R.T.P.O.(c)
  • Alexandra Kovacic R.T.P.(c)
  • Kyla Lau, B.Sc., R.T.P.(c)
  • Kevin Martyn, R.T.P.(c)
  • Dave Ritchie, C. Ped. Tech. (c)

Clinical Program Faculty

Head Clinical Instructors:

  • R. J. Clements, B.Sc., C.P.(c) - Sunnybrook Centre for Independent Living
  • Sharon Carr, B.Sc., C.O.(c) - Ron Joyce Children's Health Centre
Two female Clinical Method in Orthotics/Prosthetic (S407) students work with an elderly male client as he learns to walk with his new prosthetic limb.

Part-time Instructors and Other Lecturers:

Sunnybrook Centre for Independent Living:

  • Shane Glasford, C.P.(c)

Ron Joyce Children's Rehabilitation Centre (RJCHC):

  • Francine Coxon, C.O.(c)
  • Brad Haardeng, C.O.(c)
  • Melissa Mayers, C.O.(c)
  • Pat Reilly, C.P.(c)
  • Christa Orschel, C.O.(c)

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital:

  • Elaine Ouellette, C.P.(c)
  • Neil Ready, C.P.(c)

Boundless Bracing

  • Hiran Weerasuriya

The Hospital for Sick Children

  • Erin Brennan, C.O.(c)
  • Andrea Fung, C.O.(c)
  • Linda Lui, C.O.(c)
  • Chris Nudds, C.O.(c)

OrthoProActive Consultants

  • Krista Holdsworth, C.O.(c)
  • Brent Bogucki C.O.(c)

Ottobock Healthcare

  • Michael Pearce, C.P.(c)

Custom Orthotic Design Group

  • Linda Laakso, M.Sc., CO(c), FCBC
  • James Amesbury, B.Sc., CO(c)

Grand Rounds

View Grand Rounds Agenda

The Prosthetic & Orthotic Programs since 1979 have required students to present various topics in a more formalized setting to try to enhance their presentation skills and to encourage them to continue this activity into their professional lives. These sessions normally take place on the evening of the first Tuesday of every month. We welcome anyone interested to please attend the sessions.

Fall 2024 Dates:

  • Tuesday, October 1, 2024
  • Tuesday, November 5, 2024
  • Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Winter 2025 Dates:

  • Tuesday, January 14, 2025
  • Tuesday, February 4, 2025
  • Tuesday, March 4, 2025
  • Tuesday, April 1, 2025
  • Tuesday, May 6, 2026

All Grand Rounds Sessions will be held online.

For more information, go to the Grand Rounds Notice!

Information Sessions

November: November 21, 2024, 10am-2pm
January: January 16, 2025, 12pm-3pm

Please register:

Application Information

All applications are made through the Ontario College's Application Service (OCAS).  

For more information please visit OCAS' website: https://www.ontariocolleges.ca or George Brown College's Application page on how to apply online and important deadlines: How to Apply page. 

Deadline: 

February 1st of the year applied.
For the September 2025 start date, February 1st, 2025 is the deadline.  We strongly encourage applicants to consider applying earlier than the deadline. 

Applications are processed by OCAS and the candidate names and related information are passed on to the George Brown College Admissions Department.

Clinical Methods Application information 

For the Clinical Methods Program, the Admissions Department checks if the candidate meets the academic requirements to apply to the program. The program then receives all names of those who have applied and then arranges the admissions test for those who have met the academic requirements.

Technician Program Application information 

For the Technicians Program, those who are deemed academically acceptable by the College Admissions Department will be scheduled by our faculty office for testing involving an online admissions test involving subjects covering English, physics, anatomy, and workshop awareness. This testing will be arranged via email.

Please check the detailed application process information for each program by going to either the Clinical Program or Technical Program.

Recommendations

Information sessions occur twice a year (normally in late November and January). 

For more information please go the Technician program Info Session registration or Clinical Methods program Info Session registration  links.

Due to the specialization and unique characteristics of this profession, it is recommended that those who wish to enter this profession and program, visit rehabilitation and orthotic and prosthetic facilities to see the types of devices made and the special skills required to fabricate and fit them.

Volunteering in a facility will enable you to learn and experience first-hand more about this profession, and what it involves, and would soon tell you if you are suited to and will enjoy this type of work.

Reference letters

Any type of reference letter is allowed (academic, volunteer, employer etc) There is no required set format that we require.  
Reference letters can be sent directly to our office at Sunnybrook or emailed to applicant_info@gbcpando.com.  If emailing, please ensure that the name of the applicant is in the heading. 

Application Information:

Prosthetic & Orthotic Faculty Office,
c/o SCIL, 2075 Bayview Ave.,
Toronto, Ont. Canada, M4N 3M5
Tel: 416-480-5783
Fax: 416-480-5975

Ontario College Application Services,
60 Corporate Court,
Guelph, ON, N1G 5J3
Tel: 519-763-4725 OR 888-892-2228
Fax: 519-763-4866
E-mail: customercontact@ontariocolleges.ca

Enquiry Centre,
George Brown College,
P.O. Box 1015, Station B,
Toronto, ON, M5T 2T9
Tel: 416-415-2000 OR 800-265-2002
Fax: 416-415-4993

Links and Resources

Contact Us

Mailing Address:
Prosthetic & Orthotic Programs,
c/o SCIL, 2075 Bayview Ave.
Toronto, ON. M4N 3M5

Phone: 416-480-5783 (voicemail ONLY)
Fax: 416-480-5975
Email: applicant_info@gbcpando.com

Click on map below to view in Google Maps

Land acknowledgement

George Brown College is located on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation and other Indigenous peoples who have lived here over time. We are grateful to share this land as treaty people who learn, work and live in the community with each other.


Learn more about our land acknowledgment