PHTY616 - Sports Medicine and Musculoskeletal Clinical Practice for Physiotherapists

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Nil

Unit rationale, description and aim

Physiotherapists treat people with sporting injuries and/or neuromusculoskeletal conditions. To do this effectively they need up-to-date knowledge of the latest evidence-based approaches to managing such conditions and returning the injured person back to participation and sports or exercise performance.

Building on PHTY614 Advanced Principles of Human Movement for Exercise and Sports Performance and their previous clinical experience, in this unit students will further develop their knowledge and skills on the pathophysiology and evidence-based management of sports injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions, including those of the regions of head and neck, scapula, upper and lower limbs, trunk, spine and pelvis. Advanced clinical reasoning will be developed to inform and interpret appropriate imaging, pharmacology, biopsychosocial aspects, physiotherapy assessment, treatment of sports conditions, injury prevention and structured return to activity, sport and optimal performance using a person-centred approach and incorporating cultural, ethical and legal frameworks. Through incorporating ~70 hours of professional practice experience, including supervised practice, mentoring and case reflections, students will implement knowledge and skills gained in this unit in real life scenarios.

The aim of this unit is to enable students to develop advanced knowledge, understanding and clinical reasoning skills, using a person-centred approach, to design evidence-informed physiotherapy management of complex sports and exercise related injuries and conditions to enhance health, wellbeing, and sports or exercise performance for athletes and people of diverse populations.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

On successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

LO1 - Acquire, select and interpret relevant information to enable the optimal assessment and management of complex sports and exercise related injuries and conditions in athletes and people of diverse populations (GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA8, GA10)

LO2 - Apply advanced knowledge and skills to critically analyse, synthesise information and justify the design of evidence-informed physiotherapy management of complex sports injuries or other health conditions in athletes and people of all ages, abilities and cultural contexts (GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10)

LO3 - Apply advanced clinical reasoning skills in the implementation and evaluation of evidence-informed, person-centred physiotherapy management of complex sports and exercise related injuries and conditions, to enhance health, wellbeing and sports or exercise performance in athletes and people of diverse populations, within cultural, ethical and legal frameworks (GA1, GA3, GA4, GA5, GA6, GA7, GA8, GA9, GA10)

Graduate attributes

GA1 - demonstrate respect for the dignity of each individual and for human diversity

GA3 - apply ethical perspectives in informed decision making

GA4 - think critically and reflectively 

GA5 - demonstrate values, knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the discipline and/or profession 

GA6 - solve problems in a variety of settings taking local and international perspectives into account

GA7 - work both autonomously and collaboratively 

GA8 - locate, organise, analyse, synthesise and evaluate information 

GA9 - demonstrate effective communication in oral and written English language and visual media 

GA10 - utilise information and communication and other relevant technologies effectively.

Content

Topics will include:

• Clinical reasoning in the assessment and management of complex sports, orthopaedics and exercise related injuries and conditions, including:
• Models of clinical reasoning
• Person-centred management
• Biopsychosocial considerations
• Patient/Client/Athlete Interview
• A Clinical reasoning form
• Selection of physical examination
• Legal, ethical and cultural frameworks, including:
• Cultural and population specific awareness
• Ethical requirements
• Use of medical imaging and investigations in the management of sports and exercise related injuries and conditions
• The role of pharmacology in the management of sports and exercise related injuries and conditions
• Therapeutic exercise principles for the management of sports and exercise related injuries and conditions; progression of exercise for rehabilitation, performance and return to sport
• Sports, exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions for:
• Scapula and upper limb
• Head, trunk, spine and pelvis
• Lower limb
• Other
• Assessment approach for sports and exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions (region and site specific) including (as appropriate):
• Patient reported outcomes
• Functional and sports movements
• Sports specific outcomes or screening
• Balance and proprioception
• Active and passive movements
• Palpation
• Orthopaedic special tests
• Joint and manual assessment techniques
• Muscle function: motor control, strength (e.g. use of hand-held dynamometer) and flexibility testing
• Tendon function
• Nerve and neurodynamic testing
• Orthopaedic conditions and surgical intervention (e.g. fractures, dislocations, ligament injury)
• Other
• Rehabilitation approach for sports and exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions, including (as appropriate):
• Orthopaedic conditions and surgical intervention (e.g. fractures, dislocations, ligament injury)
• Joint manual therapy techniques
• Muscle rehabilitation – strengthening, motor control, lengthening techniques
• Tendon rehabilitation
• Neurodynamic system treatment
• Therapeutic and sports taping for injury prevention and management
• Soft tissue techniques
• Other
• Post injury return to training, sport and performance guidelines 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

ACU Online

This unit uses an active learning approach to support students in the exploration of knowledge essential to the discipline. Active learning experiences provide students with opportunities to practice and apply their learning in their work environment. Students are provided with choice and variety in how they learn, with students encouraged to contribute to asynchronous discussions, and with the option to engage in supplementary synchronous learning opportunities when scheduled. Activities encourage students to bring their own examples to demonstrate understanding, application and engage constructively with their peers. Students receive regular and timely feedback on their learning, which includes information on their progress.

This unit is delivered in "blended mode", with content and activities delivered via 'online' and 'on campus'. The 'on campus' component will be delivered as intensive block (~ 3-5 days) at a designated ACU campus/location. The overall strategy is a constructive journey from content knowledge to understanding to application.

In practice, the unit combines 'online' delivery focused on content (e.g., readings, recorded lectures, discussion forums) with the intensive, 'on campus' (i.e., face-to-face) delivery focused on developing student understanding and skills of application (e.g., via tutorials and practical sessions), as well as a clinical practice component. Tutorial sessions take an evidence-informed approach to explore and extend knowledge, understanding and skills of incorporating clinical reasoning in the assessment and treatment of complex sports and exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions. Practical sessions will enable students to develop advanced assessment and treatment skills as a sports and exercise physiotherapy practitioner in the management of complex sports and exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions. And the substantial clinical practice component (~70 hours) in this unit allows students to develop and extend their clinical skills. Through incorporating ~70 hours of clinical practice, including supervised practice, mentoring and case reflections, students will implement knowledge and skills gained in this unit in real life scenarios, working as a health advocate and collaborative practitioner.

Throughout, the strategy that supports student learning will reflect respect for each individual as an independent learner. Students will be expected to take responsibility for their learning and participate actively in all learning activities, including through the online environment.

Assessment strategy and rationale

In order to best enable students to achieve the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes, standards-based assessment is utilised, consistent with University assessment requirements. The assessment strategy in this unit has been designed to support on-the-job learning as well as to assess it. The sequence of assessment tasks include:

• Ungraded Hurdle Task: A hurdle task to ensure student competency in the application of assessment and treatment of practical skills for the management of sports and exercise related injuries and neuromusculoskeletal conditions during the intensive on-campus classes;
• Assessment 1: A professional practice experience of documented ~70 hours, which includes supervised practice, mentoring and reflections to evaluate advanced clinical reasoning skills in the application of evidence-informed, person-centred physiotherapy management of complex sports and exercise related injuries and conditions; and
• Assessment 2: A viva examination to assess student ability to apply advanced clinical reasoning skills in the assessment and management of a patient scenario with complex sports and exercise related injury and/or conditions during the intensive on-campus classes.

Students’ performance during the professional practice experience will be assessed by their university assigned supervisor.

Students must achieve a cumulative grade of at least 50% across all assessments.

Overview of assessments

Representative texts and references

Brukner, P and Khan, K. (2017). Clinical sports medicine (5th edition.). Volume 1: Injuries. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Brukner, P. and Khan, K. (2019). Clinical sports medicine (5th edition.): Volume 2: The medicine of exercise. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

Cleland, J., Koppenhaver, S., Su, J. (2015). Netter's Orthopaedic Clinical Examination An Evidence-Based Approach 3ed. Elsevier.

Magee, D., and Manske, R. (2021). Orthopaedic Physical Assessment (7th edition). Elsevier Ltd.

McKinnis. (2021). Fundamentals of musculoskeletal imaging (McKinnis, Ed.; Fifth edition.). F.A. Davis Company.

Reznik, Keren, O., Morris, J., & Biran, I. (2017). Pharmacology handbook for physiotherapists (Reznik, O. Keren, J. Morris, & I. Biran, Eds.). Elsevier Australia