The Cambodia Trust Launches Indonesia’s First O&P School

In the vast island state of Indonesia, as many as two million people with disabilities lack needed prosthetic and orthotic care. On January 6, The Cambodia Trust and the Indonesian Ministry of Health, with the support of Japan's Nippon Foundation, signed a memorandum of understanding to address these needs by establishing Indonesia's first international-standard school of prosthetics and orthotics.

"This is a major step forward in building sustainable, locally run rehabilitation services for Indonesians who need prosthetic limbs or braces to improve their mobility and self-sufficiency," said The Cambodia Trust Executive Director Carson Harte. The Jakarta School of Prosthetics & Orthotics (JSPO), a department of the Jakarta I Politech of Health Sciences, will enroll 18 students per year in a three-year prosthetics-orthotics course, with the final year spent at South Jakarta's Fatmawati Hospital. The program seeks to gain international recognition from the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO).

Peter Carey, MA, PhD, FRHistS, co-founder of The Cambodia Trust and JSPO project director, said, "Graduates from [other Cambodia Trust] schools are making a positive impact on reducing poverty amongst people with disabilities in the developing world. We are delighted to be sharing The Cambodia Trust's expertise in Indonesia."

The Indonesian government provided the building for JSPO, and the school will have support and input from ISPO and will collaborate with the Kobe School of Prosthetics & Orthotics, Japan. Though all JSPO lecturers are currently expatriates, three Indonesians have already begun training overseas as teachers through The Cambodia Trust's Cambodian School for Prosthetics & Orthotics (CSPO). Eventually, JSPO may become an ISPO Category I school, which could train students to become O&P professors at other universities.