Weeks after P.E.I. regulates podiatry, another health profession calls for similar rules
'If I open up a clinic and do orthotics, no one will shut me down if I have no credentials'
Some orthotists who fit Islanders for foot inserts and custom braces want the P.E.I. government to regulate their profession too.
On Oct. 1, the province brought in podiatry regulations that require those providing medical foot care to have formal credentials in podiatry and to become licensed.
Vanessa LaVoie, who works as an orthotist in P.E.I. and New Brunswick, says there's a need for similar rules with her profession.
"Here, if I open up a clinic and do foot orthotics, no one will shut me down if I have no credentials," she said. "[Anyone] can still do foot orthotics, or still do bracing. And this is something I believe the province should regulate."
LaVoie went through several years of post-secondary education and on-the-job training to become an orthotist, certified by the national group Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC).
She works with clients facing mobility challenges brought on by injuries or health conditions, fitting them for custom foot inserts and braces for body parts like ankles, knees and backs.
LaVoie said anyone doing that work without formal training is putting people at risk.
"If you take, for example, somebody with diabetes, and you do a foot orthotic for that patient but it's not adequate, you can create wounds for that patient," she said. "If I do a back brace myself for a teenager who has scoliosis, and I'm not doing a good job with the curve... it can create problems to their back."
Orthotists regulated only in Quebec
Quebec is the only province in Canada that regulates orthotists, and requires all of them to have formal credentials.
Orthotics Prosthetics Canada has been advocating for other provinces to join them.
"It should be regulated because this is a very sophisticated field. It demands a lot of expertise and education," said Allan Blyt, chair of OPC's advocacy committee.
"Everybody has different needs, and everybody has different presentations when they see you. So you're really designing something that — it's not one-size-fits-all... You really do need to have somebody who is qualified to take everything into account, and that's what our training is for."
Province, insurers still looking for certification
But in an email to CBC News, a P.E.I. government spokesperson said the province isn't considering regulations.
The spokesperson pointed out that orthotists working directly for Health P.E.I. do require national certification through OPC.
Most private and public insurers have the same requirement; they will reimburse patients for services and devices from certified orthotists only, the spokesperson said.
But LaVoie said that still leaves people who are paying out-of-pocket at private clinics at risk of seeing someone who isn't qualified.
Her advice to them? Ask questions.
"I don't receive that question very often — 'What is your qualification?' Those kinds of questions should be asked before an appointment," she said.
"Be well educated. And try to be careful about who touches you. That's very important."
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