Students of prosthetics, orthotics and orthopaedic technology across Africa are being invited to join POOTS Africa, a dedicated digital community created to support connection, collaboration and professional development.
The platform aims to bring together students from different institutions, countries and regions of the continent, enabling them to build relationships beyond the boundaries of their individual universities and training programmes.
Members can discuss academic and clinical subjects, collaborate on research and innovation, discover educational and career opportunities and contribute their perspectives to conversations affecting the future of prosthetics and orthotics in Africa.
Registration for POOTS Africa is now available online.
Connecting a dispersed student community
Africa’s emerging P&O professionals study within programmes operating across different languages, qualification structures and healthcare systems. Opportunities for students in one country to communicate regularly with their counterparts elsewhere on the continent can be limited.
POOTS Africa is intended to provide a shared space where these future clinicians, technicians, researchers and educators can discover one another and develop a professional network while they are still studying.
Students can create and complete an individual profile, browse other members, follow people working in areas of shared interest and communicate through private messages. They can also join groups and specialist spaces organised around countries, academic subjects or particular areas of practice.
This could help a student researching paediatric orthotics in one country connect with peers studying similar questions elsewhere. Students interested in digital fabrication, lower-limb prosthetics, spinal orthotics, assistive technology or community-based rehabilitation can form wider peer networks around those subjects.
Supporting research and innovation
The platform places particular emphasis on collaborative research, projects and student-led initiatives.
Members can publish posts, exchange ideas, comment on each other’s work and use polls to gather opinions or conduct informal student surveys. These functions could help students identify shared challenges, refine research questions and find collaborators at other institutions.
Cross-border dialogue is especially valuable where clinical resources and educational experiences vary considerably. A student working in a high-volume urban rehabilitation centre may bring a different perspective from someone completing a placement in a rural or humanitarian setting.
Bringing these experiences together can encourage research grounded in African realities, including affordability, access, local manufacturing, supply chains, workforce development and culturally appropriate rehabilitation.
The platform may also help students move from discussing ideas to developing joint presentations, awareness campaigns, research projects and practical initiatives.
Finding opportunities beyond the classroom
POOTS Africa will provide a channel through which students can discover conferences, internships, scholarships, competitions and other career-development opportunities.
Access to this information is often uneven. Students with established professional contacts may hear about an opportunity quickly, while equally capable students elsewhere may discover it after applications have closed—or not at all.
A continental community can make opportunities more visible and encourage students to share useful information with their peers. It may also help conference organisers, universities, clinics, professional associations and potential mentors reach a focused audience of emerging African P&O professionals.
The value extends beyond finding an internship or scholarship. Students can learn how peers prepared successful applications, developed research abstracts, approached clinical placements and made the transition from education into professional practice.
Giving students a continental voice
POOTS Africa also creates space for students to express opinions about their education, profession and future.
Students experience directly the strengths and limitations of training programmes, clinical placements and available technologies. Their perspectives can contribute to discussions about curriculum development, supervision, research priorities, career pathways and the changing needs of rehabilitation services.
Polls, group discussions and shared posts could help identify concerns that are experienced across multiple institutions rather than only within one programme. When organised constructively, this collective student voice can contribute to the development of P&O education and practice across Africa.
The platform should also create opportunities for students to practise professional communication, respectful debate and collaboration across different cultures and healthcare contexts.
Building Africa’s future P&O workforce together
The long-term strength of prosthetics and orthotics in Africa will depend partly on how effectively today’s students are educated, supported and connected.
Technical knowledge remains essential, but emerging professionals also need research skills, mentors, collaborators and an understanding of practice outside their immediate institution. A continental student platform can help develop those relationships before graduation and sustain them as members enter the profession.
POOTS Africa offers students a place to learn with their peers, share what they are working on and participate in conversations about the future of rehabilitation on the continent.
Students of prosthetics, orthotics and orthopaedic technology can create an account and join POOTS Africa here.
- Register for POOTS Africa
- International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics
- African Federation of Orthopaedic Technologists
- WHO Rehabilitation 2030 Initiative
- WHO Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology
Dear World Health Organization Team,
My name is NGWEMBAM NDI IRENE, and I am a biomedical engineer based in Cameroon. I am writing to share an ambition that has become very important to me: to contribute to the development of functional, affordable prosthetic limbs that can help people who have lost the use of their hands or legs regain independence and improve their quality of life.
I am particularly interested in the development of advanced prosthetic hands and legs, including bionic and robotic systems that go beyond replacing the physical appearance of a missing limb. My vision is to understand how to develop devices that can perform useful functions similar to those of natural limbs, such as grasping and holding objects, performing everyday tasks, supporting movement, and assisting people with walking.
As a biomedical engineer, I am eager to acquire specialised knowledge and practical skills in prosthetics, robotics, biomechanics, electronics, programming, and prosthetic control systems. However, I am looking for a realistic pathway to enter this specialised field, preferably through short-term, intensive, hands-on training programmes that would allow me to gain foundational knowledge and begin working on practical projects without necessarily having to undertake another full university degree.
I would be grateful for guidance on available training opportunities, scholarships, mentorship programmes, research institutions, and organisations working in prosthetics and rehabilitation engineering. I would also welcome the opportunity to connect with experts or institutions involved in designing, developing, assembling, or adapting functional prosthetic devices, particularly those working to make these technologies more accessible in low-resource settings.
My long-term ambition is to contribute to the development and accessibility of affordable prosthetic technology in Cameroon and, potentially, other African countries. I hope to build the necessary expertise and establish partnerships that could facilitate access to prosthetic components, technical resources, and knowledge transfer, with the eventual goal of supporting local assembly, adaptation, maintenance, and possibly the development of locally appropriate solutions.
I recognise that developing safe, reliable, and functional prosthetic limbs requires specialised training, research, collaboration, and appropriate clinical expertise. I am therefore seeking guidance on the steps I should take to begin this journey responsibly and build the skills needed to contribute meaningfully to this field.
I believe that advances in assistive technology should create opportunities for people to regain independence, participate more fully in society, and live with greater dignity, regardless of where they live or their financial circumstances. This belief is at the heart of my interest in prosthetics, and I would be grateful for any direction or support your team could provide.
Thank you for taking the time to consider my enquiry. I would sincerely appreciate any recommendations, contacts, or opportunities that could help me turn this ambition into a practical and sustainable project.
Yours sincerely,
NGWEMBAM NDI IRENE
Biomedical Engineer
Hôpital Général de Garoua
Cameroon
ndiirenetofm@gmail.com