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NAAOP Selects Inaugural Fellow: Nicole Ver Kuilen Report on Rehabilitation Trip to China


NAAOP Fellowship Announcement

NAAOP is proud to announce the selection of Nicole Ver Kuilen as NAAOP’s Inaugural Health Policy and Advocacy Fellow for the summer of 2018.  Nicole was selected through a competitive process from a highly qualified pool of applicants.  She begins her Fellowship on May 30th in Washington, D.C. in NAAOP’s national office and will conclude her summer experience on August 8th.

Nicole is a graduate with distinction from the University of Michigan.  She recently completed a 1500 mile triathalon down the coast of California to raise awareness of amputee and prosthetic issues.  She also has extensive academic and work experience in environmental and sustainability issues.  Nicole has a passion for advocacy and O&P policy witnessed by her recent participation in both AOPA’s O&P Policy Forum and the Amputee Coalition’s Washington Fly-In.  Nicole uses a lower limb prosthesis as a result of bone cancer when she was ten years old.

NAAOP’s new fellow will work for the summer in NAAOP’s office, learn about O&P policy and advocacy as well as the broader rehabilitation and disability field.  She will visit a number of O&P organizations including the Academy, ABC, BOC, AOPA, and the Amputee Coalition.  Field trips to several cities will expose her to O&P clinical practice, the business of O&P, and state-based policy and advocacy.  She will also work with coalitions in Washington and advocate directly on behalf of O&P patients and the providers who serve them.

China Visit Illuminates O&P Capacity

On a recent trip to China with a U.S. State Department delegation, Peter Thomas, NAAOP General Counsel, had an opportunity to present to the China Disabled Persons Federation information on the U.S. rehabilitation system, including orthotics and prosthetics.  A site visit of a rehabilitation hospital and its O&P clinical department revealed significant similarities and differences in the care provided in these two countries.  Consistent with the World Health Organization’s Rehabilitation 2030, A Call to Action, and the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), China has prioritized rehabilitation of persons with disabilities.

The are many opportunities for collaboration between the two counties on these issues in the future and NAAOP will consider its role as follow up discussions develop.

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