Last week, Montefiore Medical Center Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department Residency Training Program Associate Director Stephanie Rand, DO visited with Jim Keelty’s AP Physics I students to share her team’s work to create 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for patients in need.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Montefiore’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team traveled to Jamaica twice yearly to create relatively low-cost, 3D-printed prosthetic devices for patients unable to afford traditional prosthetics and for children. Bartels and Rand noted that many insurance companies will not cover prosthetics for children due to the high replacement cost as they grow out of them.
This semester, AP Physics I students will collaborate with the Montefiore team to create an artificial hand for a young boy who is unable to obtain a traditional prosthetic. Students will use a scan of the child’s injury, provided by the team, to create a 3D image and develop a prototype to fit the patient’s needs.
The Tappan Zee High School partnership with Montefiore’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department began during the 2019-20 school year and was spearheaded by Keelty, Rand and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department Chair (and parent of SOCSD alumni) Matthew Bartels, MD. A group of students who participated in the inaugural year were featured in a session of the 97th Annual American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine Conference in Fall 2020.
