Career Explorer Healthcare (clinical)
Human edge, growing
Orthotists and prosthetists
Design, measure, fit, and adapt orthopedic braces, appliances or prostheses, such as limbs or facial parts for patients with disabling conditions.
Among the most resilient careers: more resilient than 96% of the 831 careers we score. AI exposure is low (the Bureau of Labor Statistics rates it low), and US jobs are projected to change by +12.9% by 2035, much faster than average. The work leans on creative vision and emotional intelligence.
AI struggles with much of this work, and US employers are expected to hire more people into it than average.
- Median pay (2025)
- $81,110
- Job growth to 2035
- +12.9%
- Openings a year
- 700
- People doing it (2025)
- 9,500
- Usual route in
- Master's degree, then an internship or residency
Where people already use AI for this work
- Maintain current knowledge in area of expertise
- Research healthcare issues
- Design materials or devices
From Microsoft Research, Working with AI (2025).
Work AI rarely helps with
- Fabricate medical devices
- Adjust medical equipment to ensure adequate performance
- Supervise personnel activities
What the work looks like
- Fit, test, and evaluate devices on patients, and make adjustments for proper fit, function, and comfort.
- Instruct patients in the use and care of orthoses and prostheses.
- Maintain patients' records.
- Examine, interview, and measure patients to determine their appliance needs and to identify factors that could affect appliance fit.
- Select materials and components to be used, based on device design.
From O*NET 31.0, US Department of Labor.
What the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects
- More of these jobs, as an aging population and rise in age-related illnesses combined with an increasing prevalence of obesity and diabetes as well as other health issues and amputations will translate into a greater need for orthotic and prosthetic services.
Careers using similar strengths, with a stronger outlook
- Physician assistantsHuman edge, growing, Index 97, +21.1%
Also known as: Certified Orthotist (CO), Certified Prosthetist (CP), Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO), Orthotist, Certified Pedorthist, Licensed Orthotist, LPO (Licensed Prosthetist Orthotist), Orthotic Practitioner.
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Sources: US Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections 2025 to 2035; O*NET 31.0; Microsoft Research (2025); Anthropic Economic Index (2026); Eloundou and colleagues (Science, 2024); Felten, Raj and Seamans (2023). How we score. Updated 12 October 2026.