NUPOC participates in the Orthotics and Prosthetics Centralized Application Service (OPCAS), a service of the National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE), as a convenience for students who are applying to multiple P&O programs. Students who apply to multiple P&O programs can save time, money and effort by submitting their letters of recommendation, essay/personal statement, and transcripts to OPCAS, which will forward your recommendations, essay/personal statement, and transcripts to NUPOC and to the other P&O programs to which you are applying.

NOTE: Applicants who use the Orthotics and Prosthetics Centralized Application Service (OPCAS) must also complete and mail the NUPOC MPO Application Form. Other than OPCAS, NUPOC does not accept submissions from any online service. However, NUPOC cannot select students solely through OPCAS; therefore, in addition to submitting your recommendations, essay/personal statement, and transcripts to OPCAS, NUPOC also requires you to complete the entireNUPOC MPO Application form and submit the $95 (USD) application fee.

We do not conduct interviews or require a campus visit as part of the admissions process. If you would like to visit our campus, please email nupoc@northwestern.edu. Campus visits are intended to give prospective students an opportunity to observe class sessions and interact with current students. Faculty time is focused on student instruction; therefore, your visit should not be perceived as a time to discuss the particulars of your application or status as an applicant.

Yes, but these courses are not taught by the faculty of NUPOC or the Feinberg School of Medicine. For information about admission to Northwestern University undergraduate programs, please visit: 
http://admissions.northwestern.edu/ 

Official transcripts that show proof of completion of all coursework AND conferral of undergraduate degree must be received by June 15th in order to be eligible to begin our program in July.

NUPOC accepts 48 MPO students annually. 

We recommend that you submit an application during the final year of your undergraduate program and/or prerequisite coursework. Official transcripts that show proof of completion of all coursework AND conferral of undergraduate degree must be received by June 15th.

Exposure to prosthetics & orthotics practice plays a factor in the selection process. Direct experience to patient care, manufacturing, and practice management are all beneficial to the applicant. Most of our applicants have 200-300 hours of shadowing/exposure.

Applicants can obtain experience by working or volunteering at any P&O facility. The Facility Directory on the ABC website can help you locate an accredited facility: https://www.abcop.org/Pages/Facility-Search.aspx Working with a board certified prosthetist and/or orthotist will help prepare you for some of the technical and clinical activities that you will encounter in school. More importantly, it will provide you with a general understanding of the P&O field.

Orientation for NUPOC’s 21-month MPO program is held in Chicago in June, and online classes begin in July.

The NUPOC MPO Program is taught utilizing a blended learning format, which is a combination of distance learning and on-site learning. Find a full description of the program on the NUPOC Curriculum page.

The MPO curriculum is designed to train students concurrently in both prosthetics and orthotics. Concepts such as biomechanics, alignment considerations, motor control, and pathophysiology are woven throughout the curriculum and enable students to reinforce clinical concepts for the management of both prosthetics and orthotics patients.

A strong working knowledge of these areas is essential to being a skilled and competent practitioner. NUPOC teaches these concepts in specific courses, such as Anatomy and Biomechanics, as well as in the context of practicum courses. 

We admit each program as a cohort and you will participate in coursework with the same group of peers throughout the course of the MPO. We utilize group and individual teaching methods throughout  the distance and onsite portions of the program. To be an effective learner, you must maintain discipline to stay on task, but your peers and faculty will be readily available to collaborate with you. Most assignments will be assessed on an individual basis, and a number of projects are completed with a group of other students in your cohort. You will be required to demonstrate competence for all components of the program, including quizzes, papers, case studies, model interactions, fabrication, and all skills necessary to practice safely and effectively.

The pace of the MPO program is quite intense; but blended learning gives students the opportunity to continue working while attending school. Each student is unique, and the time commitment for the program varies. To succeed in the NUPOC MPO, students need to dedicate an average of 20-40 hours per week during the distance learning portion and roughly 40 hours per week during the onsite portion. We strongly discourage students from working during the onsite portion of the MPO program.

Yes, the NUPOC MPO program is considered a full-time, professional degree program.

Over the course of the MPO program, classes are held during every quarter, including the summer. The Northwestern University Spring quarter is from January to May with a holiday on Good Friday. The Northwestern University Fall quarter is from August to December with holidays on Labor Day and Thanksgiving. For complete holiday information, see Northwestern University Calendars.

At the beginning of the program, you will attend a mandatory onsite Orientation at NUPOC where you will meet your instructors and fellow classmates. During Orientation, you will learn the technical skills necessary to engage effectively during the distance portion of the NUPOC MPO program.

No, lecture content during the distant learning portion of the program is accessed online via the NUPOC Mediasite server. You will interact with your peers and faculty utilizing a variety of technologies, including live video conferences, and web-based discussion boards and virtual classrooms, online case studies, and course management systems. Our extensive use of technology allows you to be fully engaged with the learning process without having to be on campus. 

Course instructors are available by email or phone. Students also can arrange to meet faculty by appointment.

Yes, the NUPOC faculty believe that some Distant Learning (DL) activities should be conducted live to ensure that all students have the best learning experience possible. However, students need to be onsite at NUPOC only for Orientation and the practicum year from January through December. The balance of the coursework is DL and all DL courses can be taken from anywhere in the world using fast, reliable internet access.

Most DL modules are asynchronous, while other DL modules are synchronous. Asynchronous modules allow students several days to complete the activities, including quizzes, at their convenience.

Online synchronous activities occur at local Chicago time, using Daylight Savings Time when seasonal. Students who live in other time zones must adjust their schedules to participate at the designated Chicago time. For example, when a MPO activity begins at 5:00 p.m. (CST), east coast students must begin at 6:00 p.m. (EST); mountain state students must begin at 4:00 p.m. (MST); and West Coast students must begin at 3:00 p.m. (PST). 

To facilitate reliable access to the NUPOC online curriculum, each incoming student will receive a new tablet that is preconfigured with all required software and hardware accessories (i.e., headset for videoconferencing).

Bandwidth requirements (for videoconferencing) are as follows:

• Downstream: 768 Kbps
• Upstream: 512 Kbps

Notes:

• Most cable and DSL connections are sufficient.
• Private Wi-Fi networks (home or office) are generally okay.
• Public Wi-Fi (hotels, airports, apartment complexes, etc.) may not have sufficient bandwidth and may be incompatible, independent of bandwidth limitations.
• Satellite connections are usually insufficient. Latency is also an issue.
• Wireless G3 cards are known to be incompatible. In addition to insufficient bandwidth, other issues also exist. 
• Wireless G4 cards should have sufficient bandwidth, but we do not yet know whether they will have the same issues that G3 cards appear to have, which are independent of available bandwidth.

Test your broadband speed:

• https://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ 

Students are expected to follow safe computing practices while enrolled in NUPOC programs. Safe computing practices include:

• Keep the operating system, installed software, and antivirus definitions up to date
• Perform periodic virus scans
• Install software only from sources that are know to be safe 
• Avoid high-risk websites

Yes, the NUPOC Systems Administrator will provide technical support for software that NUPOC requires MPO students to use. Technological redundancy is built into the NUPOC distance learning system to resolve possible lock-outs, dropped testing or connection issues during on-line learning. 

NUPOC provides technical support for NUPOC-specific applications and configurations. NUPOC's IT staff may provide support for other issues at its sole discretion. For computer or other technical issues that are not specific to NUPOC requirements, Northwestern University Information Technology (NUIT) is available to provide support.

The Application Fee is $95. Tuition for the MPO 2018-2019 is $35,087 per year; the annual laboratory fee is $3,695. (Tuition and fees are subject to change.) A pre-configured tablet with headset, required textbooks, all necessary software, and training in online educational resources will be provided. Room and board are not included. New students are required to attend the scheduled Orientation prior to starting their program. 

Financial Aid is available to students enrolled in the NUPOC MPO. Students interested in the MPO program should read about the financial aid process at the Chicago Financial Aid Office’s website. A number of scholarships are offered by outside organizations throughout the MPO program, and students are notified when these are available.

Students are required to be in residence at NUPOC during their on-site courses and practicum. Students are responsible to secure their own housing, and may choose to live in downtown Chicago or in nearby suburbs, including Evanston. Students who reside in Evanston may use their Northwestern University WildCard to board the NU Intercampus Shuttle, which runs Monday through Friday from approximately 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. 

Check out the many external resources on the Student Housing section of the Augusta Webster, MD, Office of Medical Education website.

The Off-Campus Life housing section of the Northwestern University Division of Student Affairs has additional resources to assist you with your housing search.

To enter the MPO, a bachelor's degree and completion of prerequisite course work with at least a "C" (2.0 on a 4.0 scale) are required. Please note that our competitive applicants rarely attain a grade below a “B” (3.0 on a 4.0 scale) in any of the prerequisite coursework. A bachelor's degree from an accredited academic institution in any field is acceptable, but degrees in the health sciences and biomedical engineering are most common among our applicants. To become a board certified practitioner in orthotics and prosthetics, you must successfully complete the MPO program and all of its requirements, complete a National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education (NCOPE) accredited residency, and successfully pass a national multi-part examination.

Residency sites post openings and schedule interviews directly with our students while they are still enrolled in the MPO program. Residency sites must be accredited by NCOPE (National Commission on Orthotic and Prosthetic Education). Residencies adhere to strict guidelines that ensure that the resident receives the training necessary to demonstrate clinical competency in all aspects of P&O. Typically, a P&O residency is a paid position and we consider it to be an extension of your education, not your first job.