The University of Pittsburgh has announced that scholarships up to $10,000 are now available for students pursuing Master of Science degrees in Rehabilitation Technology (RT).

In a news announcement, the university said the RT Masters degree comprises 44 credits and can be completed in one or two years. Classes cover subjects such as manual and power mobility, smart home technology, augmentative communications, computer access, funding and policy, service delivery models, evidence-based practice, and ethical considerations in healthcare.

RT Masters graduates have found employment throughout the assistive technology field. They’ve worked for assistive technology manufacturers, complex rehab technology (CRT) providers, rehabilitation hospitals, and assistive technology startups.

Pittsburgh’s RT Masters program is the only graduate program accredited by the Committee on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Education in conjunction with the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs.

Graduates of this program will be able to sit for the RESNA ATP exam soon after graduation.

For more information on the RT program and curriculum, visit https://www.shrs.pitt.edu/msrst or e-mail Bethany Semancik, Education & Training Coordinator, at bls200@pitt.edu.

At last month’s International Seating Symposium, Mark Schmeler, Ph.D., OTR/L, ATP, the event’s United States director, noted that the complex rehab technology industry is losing ATPs to retirement faster than it is replacing them.

Recent statistics have shown that the CRT industry is losing 3.4 percent of its ATPs per year to retirement, while the incoming rate of ATPs is 1.8 percent. This is happening at a time that the CRT industry is growing at a rate of 4.8 percent per year.

Retirement will continue to be an important topic for the CRT industry, as the average ATP is now 52 years old. The age of the average American worker is 42 years.