Practice Analysis of ABC Certified Therapeutic Shoe Fitters

The American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics (ABC) is an  organization with a mission to establish and advocate for the highest patient care and organizational standards in the provision of safe and effective orthotic, prosthetic and pedorthic services. The ABC  Certified Fitter–therapeutic shoes (CFts) credential certifies professionals specifically educated and trained to provide non-custom therapeutic shoes and non-custom multi-density inserts. This  includes patient assessment, formulation of a treatment plan, implementation of the treatment plan, follow-up and practice management.

A practice analysis is designed to obtain descriptive information about the tasks performed in a job and the knowledge/skills needed to adequately perform those tasks. The purpose of this practice  analysis was to:

• develop tasks and knowledge related to the work performed by CFts professionals
• develop the content outline for the ABC CFts credential.

Conduct of the Practice Analysis

The practice analysis consisted of several activities: background research, an expert panel review, and development of the content outline for the ABC CFts credential. The successful outcome of the practice analysis depended on the excellent information provided by the CFts professionals who participated in the study.

Background Research

The development of revised task and knowledge/skill statements commenced with a review of the existing task and knowledge/skill statements. Additional information was gathered from reference  materials and the opinions of the experts participating on the panel.

Panel Review/Content Outline Development

An expert panel was convened virtually February 25-26, 2021. The panel of experts was presented with an overview of the ABC CFts credential and the purpose of conducting a practice analysis. The panel reviewed the draft task and knowledge/skill statements and made additional changes based on consensus regarding the final list of task and knowledge/skill statements.

The panel used the final version of the approved list of task and knowledge/skill statements to create  the content outline that will guide the development of the ABC CFts credential.

Summary

In summary, this study used a sound approach to identify the tasks and knowledge/skills that are important to competent performance of CFts professionals. The practice analysis process allowed for  input from a representative group of professionals who currently practice therapeutic shoe fitting and was conducted within the guidelines of professional best practice.