For three days at the end of April, the small but mighty community of clinicians who care for children with limb differences, neuromuscular conditions, and musculoskeletal differences will gather under one roof. The Association of Children’s Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics (ACPOC) returns to Philadelphia for its 2026 Annual Meeting — and for the practitioners who attend, it remains one of the few places in the world where pediatric O&P care is the entire point of the room, not a side track on someone else’s program.
If you’ve ever sat through a general orthopedic or rehabilitation conference hoping for one or two relevant sessions, you already understand why ACPOC is different. Here, every session, every exhibit booth, and every hallway conversation is calibrated to the realities of treating kids.
Here’s what attendees stand to gain.
THREE DAYS OF EDUCATION BUILT EXCLUSIVELY AROUND PEDIATRIC O&P
ACPOC isn’t a generalist meeting with a pediatric track bolted on. It’s a multidisciplinary gathering where orthotists, prosthetists, orthopedic surgeons, physiatrists, physical and occupational therapists, nurses, and researchers share the same agenda — because they share the same patients.
The 2026 program features engaging educational sessions across the full spectrum of pediatric O&P practice, with CME accreditation available for those who need it. Whether your work centers on congenital limb deficiencies, cerebral palsy bracing, scoliosis management, cranial remolding, or post-traumatic rehabilitation, you’ll leave with practical clinical takeaways you can apply on Monday morning.
For the first time, ACPOC is also offering virtual streaming — a meaningful acknowledgment that not every clinician can travel, and that the field benefits when more practitioners can participate.
TWO KEYNOTES THAT FRAME THE WORK FROM TWO ESSENTIAL ANGLES
This year’s featured speakers represent the field’s dual nature: rigorous clinical science on one side and the lived patient experience on the other.
The Hector W. Kay Memorial Lectureship will be delivered by Susan Apkon, MD. Dr. Apkon holds the Fischahs Chair in Pediatric Rehabilitation at Children’s Hospital Colorado and serves as Visiting Professor and Vice-Chair of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Her work over the past 15 years has been involved in clinical trials that have led to FDA-approved drugs reshaping the trajectory of pediatric neuromuscular disease. For clinicians fitting devices on children whose underlying medical landscape is changing rapidly, her perspective is particularly timely.
The Presidential Guest Speaker is Jessica Cox. Born without arms, Jessica is a licensed pilot, a fourth-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and a motivational speaker who has addressed audiences in 28 countries. Her presence at ACPOC isn’t decorative — it’s a direct reminder of what the patients in our exam rooms are capable of when they’re given the right tools, the right team, and the right mindset. Few specialties get to hear from the people whose work it is built around. ACPOC consistently does.
AN EXHIBIT HALL THAT REFLECTS WHERE THE FIELD IS ACTUALLY MOVING
The 2026 sponsor and exhibitor lineup reads like a who’s who of pediatric O&P innovation — from major prosthetic component manufacturers to specialized cranial, scoliosis, and clubfoot device companies, to scanning, software, and fabrication technology partners.
Technical workshops sit alongside scientific sessions, giving clinicians a chance to put their hands on new devices, ask manufacturers direct questions about fit and indications, and see how peers are solving the problems you’re wrestling with in your own clinic. For practice owners and clinical directors, this is hours of side-by-side product evaluation compressed into a single exhibit floor.
RESEARCH, RECOGNITION, AND THE NEXT GENERATION
ACPOC has long served as a launching pad for early-career investigators and trainees. The 2026 meeting once again features the New Investigator Research Award, recognizing emerging research that will shape the field’s evidence base; the Orthopedic Resident Travel Award, supporting trainees who might otherwise miss this kind of specialty exposure; a dedicated Student Networking Event on Thursday, April 30, where students can meet the ACPOC Executive Board and connect with peers from across the country; and expanded membership levels, including new affordable categories for students, trainees, and clinic-based group enrollment.
For senior clinicians, this is where you meet the people who’ll be caring for your patients in twenty years. For students and residents, it’s where you discover that this field — small as it is — has a clear path forward and a community ready to help you walk it.
THE CONNECTIONS YOU CAN’T GET ANYWHERE ELSE
Pediatric O&P is a small profession. The ABC’s most recent practice analysis counted roughly 5,500 certified orthotists and prosthetists in the entire country, and only a fraction specialize in children. That’s the quiet truth behind why ACPOC matters: there is no other room where this many people who do exactly what you do are concentrated in one place.
The Friday Night Networking Event at Queen & Rook — a Philadelphia gaming lounge with the largest board game library in the region — captures the spirit of the meeting. Buffet dinner, drinks, 2,500 board games, and three days’ worth of accumulated conversation, finally able to relax into something unstructured. The professional relationships built over a shared game of Settlers of Catan have a way of becoming the referral partnerships, the co-authored papers, and the late-night phone consults of the next decade.
PHILADELPHIA AS A HOST CITY
The DoubleTree by Hilton serves as the meeting hotel, with a discounted ACPOC group rate of $239 per night (booking deadline: April 10, 2026). The meeting is co-hosted by POPS Shriners — Philadelphia Shriners Hospital for Children — one of the country’s most established pediatric orthopedic centers, which lends the meeting a deep institutional grounding in the work itself.
Philadelphia in late April is at its best: walkable, historic, and full of the kind of independent restaurants and neighborhoods that make a conference trip feel like more than just a conference trip.
THE BOTTOM LINE
For pediatric O&P clinicians, ACPOC isn’t a “nice-to-have” continuing education event. It’s the annual moment when the field actually convenes — where the research being presented is about your patients, the devices on the floor are the ones you’ll be fitting next year, and the people in the hallway are the ones you’ll be calling for a consult in six months.
Three days. One field. Every discipline that touches it.
REGISTRATION
ACPOC Members: $525 / $625
Non-Members: $825 / $925
Students: $200
Virtual streaming option available.
Register and view the full program at: https://acpoc.org/2026-annual-meeting/
Displaying ACPOC_2026_Conference_Article.txt.