The development of the profession and education of Prosthetics and Orthotics in South Africa.

The history of a profession is valuable literature as it recognizes the noteworthy contributions of its forerunners and the scientific evolution from its earliest state. The purpose of this paper is to recount the historical developments in the profession of Prosthetics and Orthotics (P & O) in South Africa. An electronic literature search identified 54 Sabinet and 17,400 Google Scholar records. Key search words were "medical orthotics and prosthetics," "South Africa," and "history." The selection criteria of literature were accomplished in the subsequent 3 phases: (1) the title review, (2) the abstract review, and (3) the full-text review. The records were screened by all 3 authors. Records were excluded if they were unrelated to the history and/or development of P & O in South Africa, the history and development of other medical professions in South Africa, the historical development of P & O in other countries, the historical development of other medical professions of other countries, and records that were non-English. No peer-reviewed record was found describing the history of P & O in South Africa. Faced with the paucity of peer-reviewed evidence, the authors browsed Tshwane University of Technology, Durban University of Technology, and Walter Sisulu University websites to secure historical context. The analyses of these P & O training institutions websites provide a glimpse of the history of P & O in South Africa. The authors had identified the following areas noteworthy to be reported on (1) the historical account of the profession in South Africa, (2) the recognized tertiary training institutions, (3) the minimum admission criteria to South Africa P & O training institutions, and (4) regulatory and statutory bodies of the profession of P & O in South Africa.