{"170661":{"#nid":"170661","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Kistenberg Provides Prostheses to People in Need","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA one-time good deed that involved providing a man in\u0026nbsp;Belize with prosthetic legs has evolved into an ongoing \u2014 and\u0026nbsp;ever growing \u2014 nonprofit effort\u0026nbsp;for Robert Kistenberg.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt all started while Kistenberg, co-director of the Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics (MSPO) program in the School of Applied Physiology, was teaching at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern in Dallas in the 1990s.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cA friend of mine was doing medical mission work in Belize when she met a man without legs, who had managed to make do with getting around on a skateboard,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen she asked if I could help, I told her that I couldn\u2019t send him a set of legs, that he\u2019d have to come to the United States and that I couldn\u2019t promise anything. Within three days, she\u2019d raised the money, and Adrian was on his way.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlthough the fittings were a success, Kistenberg was concerned about how he\u2019d do follow-up visits with the man to ensure that the prostheses were successful, given the distance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI started taking an annual trip to do follow-up with Adrian in 1996, and before I knew it, we had established a permanent clinic \u2014 which remains the only prosthetic clinic in Belize,\u201d he said. \u201cThe name of the organization in Belize is called Project Hope Belize. The 501(c)(3) organization in the United States is Prosthetic Hope International, an organization that allows us to provide prostheses to people abroad and right here in Atlanta.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, The Whistle had a chance to learn more about Kistenberg and his time\u0026nbsp;at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat did you want to be when you were a child?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI always liked to take things apart and try to put them back together again. In college, I realized that I wanted to do something related to health care. My sophomore year, I decided to talk to a physical therapist at my university about his field. During our discussion, he told me that I\u2019d be a perfect fit for working with prosthetics and orthotics. As I learned more, I realized that this field offered me a position in the health care industry \u2014 that allowed me to \u201cplay\u201d in a workshop, too.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow did you arrive at Georgia Tech?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EI worked with Chris Hovorka at UT Southwestern in Dallas. When Chris started the MSPO program at Tech in 2002, he asked me to come and work with him. I started in 2003 and have been here ever since.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow do you make learning engaging for your students?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThroughout their coursework, students are working with patient models to create\u0026nbsp;prostheses. I also take students with me to Belize to work in the clinic. These opportunities to work firsthand with patients are the best way to help students learn the material in an engaging way.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is one misconception people have about your field?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPeople think most of our patients are the amputees you see in the Olympics or soldiers who are returning from war, when in reality, they are older \u2014 and often diabetic \u2014 adults. Folks also tend to confuse the words \u201cprosthetist\u201d and \u201cprostitute,\u201d which can be problematic. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the one piece of technology you couldn\u2019t live without?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERemote desktop access, because it allows me to do work from anywhere in the world.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhere is your favorite place to have lunch?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf I\u2019m being good, it\u2019s the salad bar in the Student Center. If I\u2019m not being good, it\u2019s Rocky Mountain Pizza. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat is the biggest risk you\u2019ve ever taken \u2014 did it pay off?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2010, I had an opportunity to teach a short course in upper limb prosthetics in Tehran, Iran. I was very conflicted about going but went, and it was a phenomenal experience.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETell us something about yourself that others might not be aware of.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne of my professors would mold leftover plastic from prostheses into objects, which gave me the idea to start making mushrooms out of the leftovers. I hate waste, and this allows me to recycle what\u2019s not being used. I\u2019ve included the mushrooms and other plastic sculptures in a couple of art shows, but I primarily give them as gifts.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA one-time good deed that involved providing a man in Belize with prosthetic legs has evolved into an ongoing \u2014 and ever growing \u2014 nonprofit effort for Robert Kistenberg.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A one-time good deed that involved providing a man in Belize with prosthetic legs has evolved into an ongoing \u2014 and ever growing \u2014 nonprofit effort for Robert Kistenberg."}],"uid":"27445","created_gmt":"2012-11-12 15:33:23","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:13:10","author":"Amelia Pavlik","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2012-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2012-11-12T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"169931":{"id":"169931","type":"image","title":"Robert Kistenberg","body":null,"created":"1449178978","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:42:58","changed":"1475894809","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:46:49","alt":"Robert Kistenberg","file":{"fid":"195695","name":"rsk_in_lab_11-12.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rsk_in_lab_11-12_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/rsk_in_lab_11-12_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":3774902,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/rsk_in_lab_11-12_0.jpg?itok=77Ia7EJ_"}}},"media_ids":["169931"],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"50081","name":"Master of Science in Prosthetics and Orthotics program"},{"id":"50091","name":"MPSO program"},{"id":"50071","name":"Robert Kistenberg"},{"id":"167863","name":"School of Applied Physiology"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:amelia.pavlik@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EAmelia Pavlik\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstitute Communications\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-385-4142\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}