Certified Pedorthists have overwhelmingly voted to approve integration of the Board for Certification in Pedorthics (BCP) into the American Board for Certification in Orthotics and Prosthetics (ABC).
With this vote, the BCP will officially be integrated into ABC on January 1, 2007.
ABC President Steve Fletcher, CPO and BCP President Dave Cardillo, C.Ped., both agree that this vote signifies a monumental step forward for our profession.
“In today’s demanding health care environment, specialists in all fields of foot care must work together to deliver consistently high-quality services,” Cardillo said. “By uniting under the ABC umbrella, BCP certificants have shown their commitment to this goal.”
“This is a very positive day for our profession,” stated Fletcher upon hearing the news. “With the addition of the CPed credential and all of the BCP's Pedorthic programs, ABC is truly the credentialing organization for Orthotics, Prosthetics and Pedorthics.”
More than 89% of all ballots cast voted in favor of the integration, indicating a groundswell of support for unifying orthotic, prosthetic and pedorthic professionals under one standard setting organization. Pedorthists will be fully represented in the organization, as two Certified Pedorthists will be added to the ABC Board of Directors and the volunteer committees of the two organizations will be merged.
Administratively, the two organizations will be working together in the coming weeks to transfer the certificant data and organizational records of BCP to ABC. This transition will continue into the new year, and current Certified Pedorthists will be sent an ABC welcoming packet in mid-February. The packet will contain a new ABC Certified Pedorthist Certificate along with information about the organization.
Further information on the integration will be forthcoming, and a list of Frequently Asked Questions is available at www.abcop.org.