The University of Hartford on Monday announced a new master’s degree program in prosthetics and orthotics, a field that is experiencing growing demand and dramatic technological advancements.

The new program is a collaboration between the University and the Newington Certificate Program in Orthotics and Prosthetics (NCP), and will be based in the Department of Physical Therapy within the College of Education, Nursing and Health Professions (ENHP). The program will be taught on the University’s main campus and at NCP headquarters at Hanger Orthotics and Prosthetics Inc. in Newington, Conn.

The first complete cohort is expected to start in 2012. The program will offer two paths to obtaining a master of science in prosthetics and orthotics. One will be the traditional master’s pathway, in which a prospective student with a bachelor’s degree applies to the two-year professional program.

In addition, the University will offer a “3-plus-2 program.” Under that path, undergraduates at the University of Hartford can major in health sciences with a concentration in prosthetics and orthotics, and combine their fourth year of undergraduate work with their first year of graduate study.

Both paths will include a post-graduate, two-year residency requirement as a prerequisite for the board certification exams.

University of Hartford and NCP administrators announced the new program Monday during an event at NCP headquarters. Among those representing the University at the event were Provost Lynn Pasquerella; ENHP Dean Dorothy Zeiser; Kevin Ball, assistant professor of physical therapy and director of the Human Performance Research Lab; and Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy Barbara Crane.

Following the announcements, several NCP students and three clients who use prostheses gave visitors a glimpse of the kind of work that students in the new program will be doing, and the life-changing impact of that work.

Orthotics and prosthetics (O&P) professional organizations expect the number of patients using orthoses and prostheses in the United States to reach nearly 9.7 million by 2020. A 2006 “Workforce Demand Study” predicts that if practitioners continue to enter the field at the current rate, a number of factors – including aging baby boomers, an increased number of diabetics who have lost limbs due to their disease, and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan – could cause the demand for practitioners to overwhelm the supply.

Acknowledging the increased demands, the National Commission on Orthotic/Prosthetic Education in 2004 mandated that training programs in the field be elevated from post-baccalaureate certificates to master’s degrees by 2012 and that all new programs be offered at the master’s level starting in 2010.

Robert S. Lin, chief orthotist and prosthetist at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and founder of NCP, approached the University in 2006 about developing such a graduate degree program. Lin and NCP have a long relationship with the College of Engineering, Technology and Architecture (CETA), but ultimately found that the Department of Physical Therapy in ENHP provided the best fit for the program. The Connecticut Board of Governors for Higher Education recently provided the last in a series of approvals for the new degree program.