Intro to Sports Medicine Fall 2016
Objective: To observe (shadow) a health professional in practice and to explore this as a potential career. You should observe methods of injury assessment, treatment and patient-practitioner interaction.
1. Research and select your chosen sports medicine career of interest (physical therapist, athletic trainer, personal trainer, physician, physician's assistant, strength and conditioning coach).
2. Research clinics/practices of your chosen career local to the school or where you live
3. Go in person or call clinics/practices and ask if it would be possible to shadow a practitioner for the day (explain your class and the objectives of this assignment). Be formal and polite in your approach. Use any contacts you might have personally or through friends and family. Network! Make note of:
a. A specific point of contact and an email address for that person
b. Phone number
c. Address of the practice
d. Ask questions about building access and parking
4. Arrange a mutually convenient date (you may have to be flexible to fit in with a busy practice) to attend for your observation (usually a half or full day)(see syllabus for assigned days and times for field project) or you may attend at any time convenient to your schedule
5. Confirm your appointment for the observation/shadowing with the clinic/practice 24 hours before you attend to avoid any scheduling mistakes or mishaps.
Conduct during Observation/Shadowing
• Be early! Have a trial visit to familiarize yourself with the location, parking etc.
• Remember you represent Marymount University and your professor. (no text language or icons in emails).
• Be formal in your approach (Mr./Mrs., Sir/Ma'am).
• Dress in a MU polo shirt (shirts with sleeves and button/round neck) and khaki's or trousers (no inappropriate skirts, dresses or low-cut shirts/shorts).
• Be polite and formal in your conduct.
• Your conduct will reflect on future students being able to attend.
• No caps or chewing gum or cell phones in the clinic (leave them at home or in your car).
Check spelling and use formal letter writing skills.
Please provide evidence of field visit scheduling (Example: emails, a note from the health professional) on the due date (see syllabus). Make sure to include the contact information of the health professional.
You should write a 3-4 page paper to thoroughly describe your observational experiences during your visit with a health professional. Your paper should use the following criteria as an outline:
1. Location/description of setting/name of professional/discipline (include photos if appropriate [ask permission first]), web site, brochures and business cards
2. Describe the process of patient-practitioner interaction as they met in the clinic and the types of questions etc that the practitioner asked the patient.
3. Observations of professional in practice: Describe the injury/illness assessment methods that you observed (H.O.P.S.), (S.O.A.P.)? Describe all physical and scientific tests used to make a diagnosis (including the correct name for tests) i.e. X-rays. scans, physical tests.
4. Observe HIPPA laws (do not disclose actual patient names in your paper e.g. use "patient 1" instead of "Cindy"). Describe the types of injuries that you observed. Were they acute or chronic injuries? Describe how the patient was injured.What are the long term prospects or time frames for recovery from this injury/injuries (research the answer if you did not hear it in clinic)?
5. What injury treatments did you see? If you did not witness any treatments, please research and describe a suitable form of treatment for the condition/injury that you observed.
6. What type of long-term intervention strategies and training advice did you observe?
7. Include visuals, diagrams of the injuries etc. to illustrate your observations. You must ask permission to take photographs at the clinic and be respectful if they say no. To respect their privacy, do not take pictures of patients/clinics.