Rehabilitation Placement Opportunities

As part of the BSc (Hons) Rehabilitation in Sport and Exercise programme students are required to complete a minimum of 400 clinical hours. These take place over the 3 years and can be in a variety of different places, for example, clinics and professional sports teams. Students are advised to try out different places so that they can decide where they might like to work as part of their career.


Amy Day, a third year student was fortunate enough to see surgery on the shoulder as part of her placement. Here she explains what her morning entailed...




"Today I was very fortunate to be able to observe a shoulder arthroscopy. I arrived at the theatres early in the morning to get scrubbed up and meet the team in the operating theatre.  The assisting surgeon and theatre manager worked methodically to lay out all of the equipment that would be required during the procedure. There was a great deal of preparation involved prior to the surgery, much more so than I had ever considered.


The theatre manager explained that the purpose of the surgery was subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repair; however he said that an assessment of the rotator cuff tear would be made once the surgeon had visibility of the structures so he could ascertain if a repair was necessary, or indeed viable.  He explained that often the extent of the pathology is different to what is seen from imaging such as ultrasound.


When the patient was under anaesthetic, they were bought into theatre and placed gently into the optimum position for the surgeon to access the shoulder.  The surgeon made small incisions in the patient’s shoulder and inserted a rod with a camera into one, and used the other to insert the required tool. Two further incisions were made during the course of the surgery to enable the surgeon to access the required structures.  The camera images were shown on a large screen which was fantastic as I was able to see exactly what the surgeon was doing as he operated.  The images on the screen were vastly enlarged, as the tools the surgeon was using were quite small in real terms.  The surgeon provided a commentary as he undertook the procedure and pointed out different structures such as the acromion, the humeral head, and the biceps and supraspinatus tendons.


The whole experience was absolutely fascinating and I was made very welcome by the theatres team who explained every step of the procedure to me.  It was great to see what happens during a surgical procedure before a patient is referred to rehab for post-operative treatment.  The surgical team have very kindly offered me a further opportunity to return and observe a full knee replacement.  Although I am a little nervous of this, as it will be a lot more graphic than an arthroscopic procedure, I do feel it will be another amazing experience to increase my understanding of what the body endures in surgery."


 
Giving students the opportunity to see live surgery can really enhance how they approach post-surgery rehabilitation.
 

For more information on our programmes, visit the link below:

BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy

BSc (Hons) Rehabilitation in Sport and Exercise

MSc Sport Rehabilitation

 

This blog post was produced & edited by Vicki Evans

 

Injury Management for Wheelchair Sports CPD Workshop

Twenty-one Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation undergraduate and postgraduate students made effective use of their ‘reading week’ with some additional CPD looking at Injury Management for Wheelchair Sports. Aaron Blyth-Palk from Plymouth Raiders Wheelchair Basketball and Alfie Jones from the Marjon Sport and Health Clinic ran workshops for the students who got a taste of the demands of playing wheelchair basketball and a seminar looking at important injuries and ways of taping and massaging wheelchair-bound athletes. Jordan Pearce (MSc Sport Rehabilitation) described it as

"A fantastic experience that helped me realise how challenging wheelchair sports may be, giving me a good insight of sporting injuries that comes with wheelchair users."

International Fencing Competition - Sport Rehabilitation Support

The Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation team try to provide a range of placement experiences for all students, which can be invaluable for networking and job opportunities upon graduating. Our second year Sport Rehabilitation student Becky Jacob-Harris (@RJacobHarris) was fortunate enough to be selected to provide support at the National Fencing Competition last year, which was a great success and so was asked to return this year. This is her reflection from the day.

On the 31/03/18 I attended Birmingham University to work with FHT’s vice president, Herman Fenton at the International Fencing competition. Throughout the day I had the opportunity to treat competitors, ranging from beginners to Olympic athletes. The majority of treatments were soft tissue related including massage and isometric stretching.

Throughout the day, I assisted with the treatment of shin splints, through the use of massage around the tibia, with the effect of stretching the muscles around the bone in order to increase muscle laxity and to reduce pain. I also had the chance to assist with an injury diagnosis with a client who expressed symptoms of shoulder impingement. I was independently able to assess the shoulder, clearing the cervical spine and elbow for referred pain, before taking the client through full range of movement, active, passive and resisted movements, as well as functional and special tests. The diagnosis was confirmed by Herman to be shoulder impingement.

I found this experience very educational and it added to the knowledge that I’ve gained from the Pathology of Injuries module and Clinical Assessment module in my second year. It has helped me to assess clients and select the relevant treatments I was able to provide. In comparison to attending the International Fencing competition in 2017 as a first-year student, I felt more confident with my techniques, assessments and ability to discuss rehabilitation techniques with clients. I was confident with assessing the shoulder joint, with the ability to explain the rationale to both Herman and the client.

For more information about our BSc (Hons) Rehabilitation in Sport and Exercise degree or our BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy, please visit our website.

We also have an MSc Sport Rehabilitation available as a pathway into the Profession for Graduate Sport students.

Edited by Vicki Evans, Associate Lecturer in Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation at Plymouth Marjon University; vevans@marjon.ac.uk

@marjonSPT