Prosthetics and Orthotics
Training and Technologies
Education is an important element to ensuring the technical sustainability of
rehabilitative services for war victims and people living with disabilities.
Accordingly, USAID’s Leahy War Victims Fund supports several international and
regional training centers for orthopedic technicians around the world.
Fund-assisted centers operate in Colombia, Central America, Ethiopia, Pakistan,
Tanzania, Togo, and Vietnam.
Founded in 1981, the Tanzanian Training Center for Orthopedic Technologists (TATCOT),
enrolls students from Africa and other continents. It is part of the University of Dar
Es Salaam and operates under the auspices of the Directorate of Training and Manpower
Development of the Tanzanian Ministry of Health. TATCOT is also affiliated with the
Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, the teaching hospital for the northern zone of
Tanzania, as well as with Tumani University.
TATCOT is the only African-based center that, in addition to providing a three-year
Category II degree, provides a full, four-year Category I (BSc) curriculum accredited
by the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics. Graduates are employed
in more than nineteen countries, many by national ministries of health.
In addition to providing scholarships to these degree programs in prosthetics and
orthotics, TATCOT offers a unique training program in wheelchair technology.
The program was initiated by the British organization, Motivation, which promotes a
holistic approach to improving the well-being of wheelchair users around the world,
and has since been fully integrated into the college.
Most of the students in the three-year course are wheelchair users themselves. They
hail from numerous countries, including Ethiopia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Zambia.
Scholarships are given to individuals who have been identified by governments and
institutions that guarantee employment after graduation.
USAID’s grant supporting TATCOT is implemented through the World Health Organization.
Although the program’s broad goal is to support prosthetics training for any qualified
African applicant, priority is given to those affiliated with national programs that
demonstrate strong commitment to sustainable orthopedic services. The program has
become internationally renowned and draws students from other regions.
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