As the clinical manager of Prosthetics and Orthotics at Hamilton Health Sciences, I have the privilege of working with some of the brightest and most talented individuals in the profession.

Every two years, that privilege is magnified when I attend the Canadian Association of Prosthetists & Orthotists (CAPO) conference with some staff members from our clinic. The CAPO conference is an assembly of the country’s leading minds in prosthetics and orthotics – a forum for sharing new technologies, procedures, and patient care techniques, and for demonstrating the latest in products and materials. This year’s event was held in beautiful Victoria, B.C. from August 1^st to the 4^th.

Staff members from Prosthetics and Orthotics at Hamilton Health Sciences contributed to the success of this year’s conference through presentations, as organization committee members, and as moderators.

While in Victoria, I took some time away from the conference to visit the Terry Fox memorial at “Mile Zero”, the planned finishing point of his run. Terry Fox has inspired so many people. My family and I draw a personal connection to him having a younger brother that became one our amputee patients here at Chedoke, due to cancer, and later passed away.

The Terry Fox run takes place at a number of locations throughout the country on Sunday, September 16^th. Besides the huge contributions to cancer research, Terry’s run drew a great deal of attention to the potential abilities of all amputees and helped promote the development of higher functioning prosthetic devices and accessories that are now available. As we saw at the conference in Victoria, further research and development is continuing with more exciting components on the way.

To find out more about the run or to register, please visit http://www.terryfox.org/Run

As this year’s CAPO conference drew to a close, we found ourselves already looking forward to the next event in Halifax in 2014. Our team is always excited at the opportunity to collaborate and share with our peers in the world of prosthetics and orthotics.

We always come back from events like this feeling energized and even more excited about the services we provide in our clinic. We hope you’ve had a great summer, and look forward to meeting you soon!

Sincerely,

Chuck McRae, clinical manager of Prosthetics and Orthotics at Hamilton Health Sciences

Patients Served

Indiviuals with any level of amputation.
Any individual that may benefit from the use of an orthosis. For example, braces and or foot supports.
Any individual requiring a custom seating insert for proper positioning, support or pressure management in his or her wheelchair.