What does a Medical Appliance Technician do?

Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances. Day to day that includes work like drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices and Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required.

What skills should a Medical Appliance Technician put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Medical Appliance Technician list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Autodesk AutoCAD, Footmaxx Metascan software, Gait analysis software, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Office software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Medical Appliance Technician work?

O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation, including Lab Technician, Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician, O and P Technician, and Orthotic Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Medical Appliance Technician need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 26% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Medical Appliance Technician role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Medical Appliance Technician resume example

A resume for a Medical Appliance Technician needs to show the work itself: construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances. Day to day that means work like this: drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices; read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Lab Technician
Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician
O and P Technician
Orthotic Technician
Prosthetics Technician
Certified Pedorthotist
Hearing Aid Repair Technician
Orthopedic Technician
Registered Prosthetic Orthotic Technician
Arch Support Maker
Arch Support Technician
Arch-Support Maker
Artificial Eye Maker
Artificial Limb Maker
Artificial Plastic Eye Maker
Brace Maker
Fabrication Specialist
Medical Appliance Maker

O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices.
Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required.
Make orthotic or prosthetic devices, using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand or power tools.
Bend, form, and shape fabric or material to conform to prescribed contours of structural components.
Construct or receive casts or impressions of patients' torsos or limbs for use as cutting and fabrication patterns.
Repair, modify, or maintain medical supportive devices, such as artificial limbs, braces, or surgical supports, according to specifications.
Cover or pad metal or plastic structures or devices, using coverings such as rubber, leather, felt, plastic, or fiberglass.
Test medical supportive devices for proper alignment, movement, or biomechanical stability, using meters and alignment fixtures.
Lay out and mark dimensions of parts, using templates and precision measuring instruments.
Fit appliances onto patients, and make any necessary adjustments.
Polish artificial limbs, braces, or supports, using grinding and buffing wheels.
Take patients' body or limb measurements for use in device construction.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Make orthotic or prosthetic devices, using materials such as thermoplastic and thermosetting materials, metal alloys and leather, and hand or power tools, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Bend, form, and shape fabric or material to conform to prescribed contours of structural components, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Autodesk AutoCAD
Footmaxx Metascan software
Gait analysis software
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Ohio Willow Wood OMEGA Tracer System
Orthotic fabrication software
Seattle Systems Shapemaker
SoftSource CADview
Vorum Research Corporation CANFIT-PLUS

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

3D scanning systems
Acetylene torches
Air compressors
Alignment stands
Allen wrenches
Anvils
Arbor presses
Band saws
Bead blasters
Belt sanders
Bench lathes
Bench punches

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

Footmaxx Metascan
Gait analysis

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Critical Thinking
03Quality Control Analysis
04Reading Comprehension
05Speaking
06Troubleshooting
07Operations Monitoring
08Social Perceptiveness
09Complex Problem Solving
10Judgment and Decision Making

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Production and Processing
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Mechanical
Design
Education and Training
Mathematics

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

26%Associate's Degree
21%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
18%Bachelor's Degree

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Medium Preparation Needed”. Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Common questions

What does a Medical Appliance Technician do?: Construct, maintain, or repair medical supportive devices such as braces, orthotics and prosthetic devices, joints, arch supports, and other surgical and medical appliances. Day to day that includes work like drill and tap holes for rivets, and glue, weld, bolt, or rivet parts together to form prosthetic or orthotic devices and Read prescriptions or specifications to determine the type of product or device to be fabricated and the materials and tools required.
What skills should a Medical Appliance Technician put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Critical Thinking, Quality Control Analysis, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Medical Appliance Technician list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Autodesk AutoCAD, Footmaxx Metascan software, Gait analysis software, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Office software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Medical Appliance Technician work?: O*NET records 36 titles for this occupation, including Lab Technician, Orthotic and Prosthetic Technician, O and P Technician, and Orthotic Technician. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Medical Appliance Technician need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 26% reported their level of education as "Associate's Degree". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Medical Appliance Technician role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.