Sports Therapy BSc (Hons)

This course is accredited by the Society of Sports Therapists.

The Sports Therapy course will provide students with a solid knowledge of the sports science disciplines (human movement & biomechanics, physiology and exercise physiology, exercise programme prescription, nutrition, sports psychology) as well as the therapeutic skills of detailed anatomy, examination & assessment of all joints, joint mobilisations, massage, sports rehabilitation and other electrotherapy modalities.

The course will also develop academic skills such as of scientific writing, researching, critical thinking and clinical reasoning utilising the current evidence base.

A double module of clinical placement running across the final year helps to develop excellent clinical reasoning and improves injury assessment, treatment and rehabilitation choices and techniques. Placement links have been forged with a number of local professional and amateur football and rugby teams - other sports also provide placement opportunities. The department also has links with overseas universities, particularly the USA. Students in previous years have undertaken a 4-week placement within an Athletic Training department in a USA university.

From the very first year students are encouraged to participate in a number of external sporting events which are arranged by staff. Over the past few years these have included the provision of massage at the Flora London Marathon, Tough Guy, Evesham Rowing Festival, Race for Life, Men’s Health Survival of the Fittest.

The University has an extensive range of library texts, journals and online resources in both health and sport to support the programme. The sports therapy programme makes use of all the state-of-the-art facilities on campus include human performance and sports science laboratories, clinic environments, sports therapy specific clinical skills teaching rooms, fitness suite, sports hall, AstroTurf, playing fields.

Accreditation – and what this means

This course is accredited by The Society of Sports Therapists, the professional body for Sports Therapy in the UK. The course ensures that graduating students have achieved all the professional body competencies, therefore giving them eligibility to join the professional body after graduation. The course is set up so that you meet the academic requirements of the University AND the professional competencies of the SST. Accreditation brings benefits to the student, but also carries the burden of professional and personal requirements. The course places an emphasis on preparing students for their professional role as a Graduate Sports Therapist, so students must be aware of the additional requirements of exemplary personal and professional behaviour throughout the course.

Benefits of an accredited course

• You will become a student member of the SST whilst studying on the course
• You will have the backing and support of the professional body
• You will have limited professional indemnity and public liability insurance cover for your clinical placement hours
• You will be eligible to join the professional body at the point of graduation

Student obligations on a professionally accredited course

There are a number of obligations and requirements of students on this course which are additional / different to other UW courses:

• 100% attendance at class is expected. Continued non-attendance will result in you failing modules, and will mean that you do not get your Sports Therapy degree.
• You must pass all modules in order to gain the award of BSc (Hons) Sports Therapy.
• Techniques taught in class must be practiced outside formal contact hours in order to develop appropriate handling skills. Students must expect to practice these throughout the course, not just prior to assessments.
• You are required to undertake additional activities outside the normal teaching hours, including work within the massage and sports injury clinics, first aid work with the UW student teams.
• The amount of time varies between years, but generally increases from year 1 to year 3. You may also have to work occasional weekends.
• There is an increased expectation of professional behaviour throughout the course. Any disciplinary action taken against you will be taken very seriously and may result in you not achieving your degree in Sports Therapy.

Timetable for a Sports Therapy student

• The university runs classes from 9.15am – 9.15pm and classes can be timetabled at any time Monday to Friday.
• Class contact time will vary depending on the subject, but students can expect a minimum of 14-16 hours per week.
• Students are also required to work within the university clinics which run outside the above class contact times - generally during the evening, 5pm – 9pm.
• First Aid provision with the university sports teams will take place mostly on a Wednesday afternoon, but it may be possible to work with a team who train and play on different days. However, students need to be aware that a choice may sometimes need to be made between playing sport and developing the necessary Sports Therapy skills to get your degree.

A typical weekly timetable for a First Year Student

Monday Morning (4 Hours Class)	Musculoskeletal Anatomy
Tuesday Morning (4 Hours Class)	Special Populations
Wednesday Morning (3 Hours)	Work Experience in Massage Clinic
Thursday Afternoon (4 Hours Class)	Fundamentals of Sports Therapy
Friday Afternoon (4 Hours Class)	Exercise Physiology

A typical weekly timetable for a Final Year Student

Monday Morning (4 Hours Class)	Manual Therapy
Monday Evening (5-7pm)	Work in Sports Injury Clinic
Tuesday Evening (5-7pm)	Work in Sports Injury Clinic
Wednesday Afternoon (5 Hours)	Work with Student Union Team
Friday Afternoon (4 Hours Class)	Advances and Developments in Sports Therapy
Ongoing throughout the week	Work Experience at external placement. Work on Independent Study
Saturday Afternoon	Work pitch side for external placement club

Typical assessments on the course

All Sports Therapy modules have a written and a practical component to the assessment. Written work could be an essay, review of the evidence to support a treatment, a timed exam. Practical assessment will require students to demonstrate a range of skills. Practicals generally have a viva element, which is a discussion to determine the student’s level of underpinning knowledge. In many of the modules students must pass both the written and practical assessments.

Student comments about the course:

“I was given the chance to go to America for a month to work with the Athletic Trainers and the American football team at Ball State University. It was an amazing experience and I am very grateful to all the staff who helped to put the package together.”

“There is a lot to learn in every module and you need to keep on top of the practical skills as well as doing all the background reading. I’m not sure I worked hard enough in the first year, so my second year was really tough.”

“It’s hard work throughout the year, but really rewarding when you see one of your athletes go back to playing sport.”

“I was lucky enough to gain work experience with another student with the professional basketball team based at University. It’s opened my eyes to how much the therapist needs to know – not just about treating injuries, but all the other sports science stuff. It’s great to see how much our input helped the overall team performance.”

“I loved working in the uni clinics. This really helped build my confidence.”

“Going to help out at the Frisbee event was brilliant. I massaged over 30 people in a day. Really hard work but really rewarding, especially when some people came back and asked specially for me to massage them again. I’d never get that much experience if I didn’t do these extra events.”



 

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