SHADOWING A POSSIBLE CAREER

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March 12, 2025

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Notre Dame Prep seniors shadow a professional prosthetist/orthotist for a day and find a potential career.

In January, after Beatrice Janka, MPO, CPO, a senior product development engineer at Troy-based Becker Orthopedic, visited and presented to students in Notre Dame Prep's engineering and empathy class, she invited students to visit her workplace to see what a certified prosthetist/orthotist does in a typical work day. A number of students jumped at the opportunity with senior E&E student Valerie Grass getting first crack at it last Friday, Mar. 7. She brought along fellow senior Anna Wisely, who's not in the E&E class this term, but was interested nonetheless.

On her January visit to NDP, Janka, a parent of three Notre Dame Prep students, discussed the design and manufacturing process for prosthetics, which was very timely since students in E&E are working on inventing products that will make the day-to-day activities of quadriplegics, paraplegics and monoplegics easier and more bearable.

Janka was delighted to have Grass and Wisely visit and promised to organize a more comprehensive visit in the future.

"If any have interest in spending more time shadowing with our patient care, including the hospital clinics or in any of the other departments, I would be happy to arrange it," she said. "Also, if students are interested in learning more about prosthetics and orthotics as a degree path, I know faculty at several universities that offer a master's degree in the field, including Eastern Michigan University, the University of Texas, and the University of Washington, and can introduce them to professors if desired."

Grass and Wisely were asked about their Friday shadow visit with Janka. They both were genuinely impressed and checked in with their recollections:

Valerie Grass: "We started our morning in Waterford at an outpatient clinic. This was a great opportunity to get an accurate gauge of the environment and what this kind of occupation entails. The staff was extremely friendly and it was very interesting to see how they interacted with the patients and helped them with their individual needs. It was fascinating to see the CPO (certified prosthetist-orthotist) help patients walk again and relieve their pain in such a short amount of time. After witnessing a few appointments and learning more about the field, we went to the Becker headquarters in Troy and got to tour through the machine shop, central fabrication facility and product testing lab. This was a very unique experience because I had never witnessed an industrial-type environment like this before. We got to see the different stages of production for the prosthetics from start to finish, which was very interesting. 

"Before this shadowing experience, I already had prosthetics and orthotics in mind as a possible career choice, however I did not know much about it, which is why I decided to shadow. After my day with Mrs. Janka, I definitely think this is a career path I would like to pursue. By talking to Mrs. Janka and the other CPO, I realized how much this career aligned with what I am passionate about and I can definitely see myself working in this kind of environment. Overall this experience had a very significant impact on my planned career choice. 

"This opportunity with Mrs. Janka also helped me decide what might be the best path for me to follow in college in order to become a prosthetist someday. I’m very grateful I had the chance to do this and will definitely try to shadow again sometime soon!"

Anna Wisely: "On Friday, we observed CPOs work with patients and evaluate things like the way they walk and what kind of soles would best help them walk. Then we went to the site where they make braces and we saw how complex the process was from coating the brace with resin to bending metal to support the brace. 

"This is a career I would consider for myself because it works with people and tries to better their lives in a practical way. My main focus for a career is physical therapy but I think this would be a great alternative if I changed my mind because it is very similar but also includes another aspect making practical solutions to help people in their daily lives. The most interesting thing I learned during my visit is that making a brace is no easy task and takes many people — from the engineer to the people who bend the metal to the one who coats it with resin and the people who then sew it all together."

According to Louise Palardy, who teaches the engineering and empathy course, two more NDP students will be shadowing Janka next week.

 

For information on admission to Notre Dame Prep, please click here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

About Notre Dame Preparatory School
"At Notre Dame Prep, we inspire our students to become the best versions of themselves. We challenge them through an experience of academic excellence, focused on active, project-based learning. We invite them to explore a world of opportunities beyond the classroom. We guide them as they grow in spirituality within a community strong in its Catholic and Marist identity."

Notre Dame Preparatory School is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School's upper school enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame Prep's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDP is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.