ATP race: US Rehab ‘breaks down barriers’

WATERLOO, Iowa – U.S. Rehab plans to have a new program up and running in January that will give rehab technicians another opportunity to become assistive technology professionals (ATPs). 

The ATP Academy is an online program that comprises several modules on everything from anatomy and physiology to seating and mobility to fundamental engineering principles to service and delivery. 

“Basically, what we tried to do is develop a checklist of items that you’d need to, ultimately, become an ATP, and heavily built the coursework based on that,” said Tyler Mahncke, president of U.S. Rehab, a division of the VGM & Associates.  

U.S. Rehab has already partnered with RESNA on an ATP Guidance Program that provides a pathway for rehab technicians who are certified by the Assistive Mobility Repair Group (AMRG) to become certified as ATPs.  

The two programs, along with an ATP Fundamentals Course offered by RESNA, all work toward the same goal of increasing the number of ATPs in the market, Mahncke says, but in different ways. The ATP Guidance Program is heavy on mentorship for less experienced rehab technicians, for example, and the ATP Fundamentals Course is offered live over a set timeframe. 

“The ATP Academy is a little more flexible,” he said. “It’s something you can do on the weekends or later at night after you’ve worked your full-time job. You can pop in and close out whenever you see fit. We need to have multiple pathways, and this is another way we’re breaking down barriers.” 

U.S. Rehab has spent the better part of the last year developing the ATP Academy, Mahncke says, hiring a coursework designer from American Airlines, and leaning on VGM Education, another division of VGM. The program was also a big reason VGM hired Cindi Petito, OTR/L, ATP, CEAC, CAPS, as director of clinical networks. 

“Cindi wrote or put together the modules,” he said. “We had some material previously, but she’s put it together in a consumable, educational platform. She knows as well as anyone what it takes to be an ATP. She’s one of the best in the business.” 

With ATPs retiring at a rapid rate and most providers without their own learning management systems, it’s all hands-on-deck to build the next generation of ATPs, Mahncke and Petito say. 

“Everyone in the industry is working really hard to drive both clinicians and folks in the trades to consider it,” Petito said. “We have a great industry, and we need people who have the heart to join us.”