Program policies

1. Program status

The Pedorthic Atlas Course is an independent course offered by Foot Companion, Inc. It is not an ABC-approved pre-certification course. Completing it does not by itself satisfy ABC’s pre-certification education requirement, and it is not produced by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics & Pedorthics (ABC). The current list of approved courses is published by ABC at abcop.org. If the course’s status changes, this page, the course overview and the certificate wording will be updated the same day.

2. Accurate representation

Every description of the course — this site, the overview page, emails and any advertising — describes the program as it is actually delivered. Completion of the Pedorthic Atlas Course requires all of the following:

• every lesson in all 20 content modules completed (80 didactic hours online, on demand);
• every module quiz passed at 80% or better (retakes allowed);
• the 165-item closed-book final examination passed at 80% or better within a 3-hour limit — one attempt, or a second attempt authorized by the instructor after remediation (§5);
• the 45-hour in-person lab attended in full over five days, with all twenty lab skills assessed individually by the instructor and passed — every criterion on every skill checklist met, in the session or at a make-up session within the six-month window; attendance alone does not complete the lab;
• the lab beginning within six months of completing the didactic portion;
• paid enrollment on file.

Lecture videos. The didactic content is the written lessons, their gated checks and the quizzes. Most modules also have one or two recorded lectures of about 15 minutes that condense the module's lessons; a lesson page plays its lecture from the point where that lesson's part begins and lists the lecture's parts. Module reviews and supplementary lessons have no lecture part. Each lecture was recorded from the current lesson text and is shown only while it matches it; when a lesson is revised, its part is re-recorded. Lecture videos are part of free study: they are streamed to registered students who are logged in, and the site records how much of each lecture a student has watched (a lecture counts as watched at 85 percent). Each lecture is written and clinically approved by the instructor of record, Asim A. Alli, C.Ped., CFo, and is presented on screen by a licensed AI-generated avatar with a synthetic voice rather than a filmed presenter. The avatar is a presentation medium only: it holds no credential and is not the instructor. Instructor communication, grading and the in-person lab are provided by the instructor of record. This is also stated beneath every video.

The certificate of completion states 125 hours total (80 didactic + 45-hour in-person laboratory) and is issued only when every requirement above is met. No partial certificate is issued for the didactic portion alone.

3. Non-discrimination

Pedorthic Atlas admits, teaches and assesses students without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. The program complies with applicable federal and state laws in its operations, admissions and employment.

4. Instructor communication

Because the didactic portion is delivered on demand, students have direct access to the instructor during regular business hours:

• Email: info@pedorthicatlas.com
• Phone: 540-314-9508, during business hours
• Business hours: Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Eastern
• Response time: email and voicemail are answered within one business day
• Live video calls: by appointment

5. Academic integrity and examination rules

• Module quizzes are learning tools: 80% to pass, retakes allowed, explanations shown after each attempt.
• The final examination is closed book: 165 questions, a 3-hour time limit, 80% to pass, and one attempt. It is taken online, not in a supervised room. Before it opens the student must attest that they will complete it without books, notes, other people or online resources; the questions appear in a random order fixed for the sitting; each answer is saved as it is selected and the clock is kept on the server; the examination is graded on the server, and the student sees the score and a breakdown by ABC practice domain but not the questions or answers. Copying, pasting, printing and text selection are disabled, and taking screenshots or photographs is prohibited under the attestation.
• Interruptions. A dropped connection, a reload or a closed browser does not end the sitting: the student signs in again and continues with the saved answers while the clock keeps running. When the time limit passes, the answers saved up to that point are graded. A sitting lost to a documented technical failure on the program's side is voided by the instructor (no attempt is recorded) and a new sitting is authorized.
• Second attempt. A student who does not pass may be authorized by the instructor for one further sitting after remediation (a review of the practice domains scored lowest, assigned by the instructor), no earlier than 7 days after the first sitting. The further sitting uses the examination's item bank in a new random order. The authorization and its reason are recorded with the sitting. Further sittings are not routine: any sitting beyond the second is at the instructor’s documented discretion after further remediation.
• Accommodations. A student who needs an extended time limit or another adjustment for a documented disability asks the program office before the sitting (§10); the extended limit is set on the sitting and shown to the student before they begin.
• Identity and records. Identity is confirmed in person at the lab against government-issued photo identification, and lab assessments are observed directly by the instructor. That check establishes who attends the lab; for the online examination it is one integrity measure alongside the signed attestation, the server’s sitting record and the instructor’s review of the responses, not proof on its own of who answered. Each sitting's start and end time, item order, responses, score and any authorization are kept with the student's record for at least seven years. The full procedure is the Final Examination Operating Procedure, available from the program office.
• Sharing exam content, using unauthorized aids, having another person complete any part of the course, or misrepresenting lab attendance results in a failed attempt and may result in dismissal from the program without refund. Any issued certificate obtained by misconduct is revoked.

6. Health and safety of patient models, students and faculty

• Patient models are consenting adults who are screened before participation and may withdraw at any time. Students may also act as models for one another with consent.
• Standard precautions and infection control apply to every evaluation, casting and fitting activity; hands are washed or sanitized between models.
• Personal protective equipment (eye protection, dust masks or respirators, hearing protection and gloves as the task requires) is provided and must be worn when grinding, cutting, heating or casting.
• Students receive safety instruction on every machine and hand tool before first use; the lab is ventilated for grinding and adhesive work and a first-aid kit is on site.
• The instructor may stop any activity at any time when safety is in question.
• The lab complies with applicable OSHA, state and local requirements.

7. Privacy

• Patient-model information gathered in the lab (history, evaluation findings, impressions, photographs) is handled with HIPAA-style safeguards: collected only with consent, used only for instruction, de-identified in any teaching record, and not retained beyond the session unless the model agrees.
• Student data (account details, progress, quiz and exam results, lab attendance, payment status) is used to deliver the course, issue certificates and maintain completion records. It is not sold or shared for marketing. It may be disclosed to the credentialing body on request to verify a completion record (see Records).
• Passwords are stored hashed. Students may request a copy or correction of their records at info@pedorthicatlas.com.

8. Records

A completion record is kept for every student: enrollment date, module completions, module-quiz results, the final-examination result, lab session attended, certificate number and date of issue. Completion records are retained for at least seven years after the completion date and are available to the credentialing body on request. Students may request a copy of their own record at any time.

9. Substantive-change reporting and audit access

Substantive changes to the program — in content, delivery method, completion requirements, the primary instructor or other faculty — are reported to ABC. ABC may inspect the lab facility, equipment and instruction in person or by video, and may review completion records, at any reasonable time.

10. Accessibility

Pedorthic Atlas complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable accommodations — for example extended time on the final examination, accessible formats for course material, or physical accommodations in the lab — are provided on request. Requests should be sent to info@pedorthicatlas.com, ideally at least two weeks before the examination or lab session so arrangements can be made.

11. Enrollment, payment and refunds

• Study is free. Registration gives access to every lesson, module quiz and recorded lecture at no charge.
• Enrollment is paid. Enrollment ($3,495.00) includes the 45-hour in-person lab seat, the closed-book final examination and the certificate of completion. Payment is made through a QuickBooks Online payment link or invoice issued by the program; enrollment is confirmed by the program once payment is received.
• Lab seats are limited to 10 per session and are assigned in order of paid enrollment; when a session is full the student is placed in the next session. Sessions are planned four times a year and confirmed, with dates published on the course overview and enrollment pages, once enough students are enrolled.
• The six-month window. The lab must begin within six months of completing the didactic portion; this is ABC’s limit, and the program cannot extend it. The didactic portion is complete on the day the final examination is passed; that date is recorded in the student’s record and shown on the dashboard with the deadline it sets. The program guarantees every enrolled student a seat in a session that begins inside his or her window: it assigns the next confirmed session with a free seat inside the window and confirms the dates by email, and if none is scheduled it runs one inside the window, whatever the cohort size. If the program cancels or postpones the assigned session and cannot offer another inside the window, the student receives a full refund. A student who cannot attend the assigned session may move, at no charge, to any other session that begins inside the window. To attend a session after the window, the student first re-establishes didactic completion by passing the final examination again in a new sitting authorized by the instructor; that date starts a new six-month window.
• Refund terms: a full refund is available on request up to 14 days before the start of the student’s scheduled lab session, at any time while no session has been assigned to the student, and whenever the program cancels or postpones an assigned session. Within 14 days of a scheduled lab start, no refund is made, but the enrollment moves at no charge to another session inside the student’s window, or to a later session after re-establishing didactic completion as described above. No refund is made once the lab session has begun. Approval of this course by ABC is not promised and is not a condition of enrollment; a student who enrolled to meet ABC’s education requirement and finds that the course is not approved by the time their lab is scheduled may withdraw for a full refund up to the start of the lab.
• Refund requests are sent to info@pedorthicatlas.com and are processed to the original payment method within 14 days.

12. Contact

Foot Companion, Inc. · 9724 Midlothian Turnpike, North Chesterfield, VA · info@pedorthicatlas.com · 540-314-9508 · pedorthicatlas.com

Lab venue: ZFeet, 10707 Park Blvd, Suite B, Charlotte, NC 28210

Last reviewed October 2026.