Practitioner Profile: Shawn McAdams, ABC Certified Orthotist

Shawn McAdams graduated from Northwestern Medical School’s Orthotics and Prosthetics Practitioner Program in 2005, and he has worked in the field since he became an orthotic and prosthetic technician in 2001. He completed his residency in orthotics with C. H. Martin Co. in Macon, GA before joining the care team at P&O Care in St. Louis, MO, in July 2007.

Shawn got into the P&O field to help people just like himself. "In November of 2000, I fell and broke my back so that I could no longer do a laborers job. Through a vocational rehabilitation program, I was able to get retrained, so I went to school to become an orthotic and prosthetic technician. I knew that I wanted to help people directly with their needs rather than in an indirect way with fabrication, so I went back to school for my bachelors degree and then on to Northwestern University to become a CPO.

"First, I became a technician because I wanted to make the tools for people to have a better life. Then, I became a practitioner because I wanted to see the smiling face of the patient using the tools that I had designed. I like to help people achieve peace of mind. When someone is hurting, they tend to focus on that hurt. If I can help relieve that hurt, then they can focus on other things in life that make them happy and fulfilled."