For the past 3 months (or so) I have been working with Chatswood Rugby Club. This has been a great opportunity and I have enjoyed working with the team immensely! Having a position such as this while completing my Masters of Physiotherapy has allowed me to practice my assessment and treatment skills, sharpen my taping skills and has increased my passion for the field of Physiotherapy.
To be more specific, by far the best aspect of my role has been getting hands on experience. It’s all fine and dandy to practice special tests and manual therapy with your colleagues, but it’s way more meaningful when you actually perform these tests on people who need your help! For example, one of the guys sprained his ankle during training a few weeks ago (relatively minor). I was able to confirm he sprained his ATFL with the anterior drawer test and have been treating it with AP mobilizations of his Talocrual joint. It’s great getting feedback that what you are doing is making their pain decrease or increase their range of motion!
Another aspect of this role I enjoy is that it pushes me to do some research on my own time into different injury presentations. For example, I have just begun my second semester and we are just beginning to discuss shoulder injuries. As you can imagine, there are often shoulder injuries in Rugby. Therefore, it has encouraged me to read ahead in the text, research and ask questions at University in order to better treat the team.
I personally have nothing bad to say about working in this role. The worst thing I have experienced so far is working it rainy and cold weather. But otherwise it has been great and I am hoping to return for next season!