Education/training
Treating sports injuriesEven Olympic athletes pop or tear parts of themselves, just like mere mortals. So it's good for them -- and us -- that there are professionals trained to take care of sports injuries whether they occur at centre ice in Turin or during a beer 'n' wings pickup game. DAVID CHILTON |
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 [ 2006-02-22 ] |
Students at the Canadian Therapeutic College must complete 400 hours of field placements in five different sports before they graduate from the three-year Sports Injury Therapy program.
10th anniversary
One college with a unique take on treating sports injuries is Canadian Therapeutic College in Burlington, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and five years of its Sports Injury Therapy program.
John Smyth, director of the program, says it's the only one of its kind in Canada, attracting students from southern Ontario as well as Nova Scotia and British Columbia and even Bermuda.
The three-year, full-time program has one intake of up to 40 students every September, says Smyth, with 24 students qualifying for enrollment last year. Applicants must have at least a high school diploma with two science courses and one English course. Those applicants with a science degree can apply for advanced standing. Tuition at the private college is $8,500 a year and students are eligible for OSAP.
The age of Smyth's students ranges from high school graduate to about 40 and between 60% and 65% of them are women.
Students learn massage therapy, which allows them to write the registered massage therapist registration exams, and such subjects as biomechanical analysis, advanced rehabilitation, ultrasound, osteopathic techniques and advanced emergency care.
Local team placement
"We (also) ask our students to do a field placement with a local team in this area. That's a major field placement and then we ask them to do some smaller ones where they have to cover five different sports. Our total field placement is 400 hours," Smyth says. Students must also complete 420 hours of clinical placement treating sports injuries and providing massage therapy.
Sheryl Yee, who has her own practice in Burlington, graduated from the college in 2003. A former varsity basketball player herself, Yee says instruction in the program is hands-on and highly practical. A receiver for the Milton Marauders -- a semi-pro football team -- is no doubt grateful that it is. Yee treated him when he had a heart attack on the field. (He has recovered.) "I just did it," Yee says, alluding to her treatment of the stricken player, even though she admits she was nervous while attending to him.
Conor Collins is a second-year student at Canadian Therapeutic College. He graduated from the University of Western Ontario in 2003 with a degree in Health Science and thought about becoming a physiotherapist or athletic therapist. However, the college's smaller numbers -- at Western he was in one class with 1,200 students -- and its hands-on approach persuaded him to enrol. "There's way more role playing and practical stuff (at the college)," Collins says.
When he graduates, Collins wants to work in the field for two or three years then open his own clinic in or near Burlington or Toronto.
Smyth says there are a number of options for his graduates, who can of course treat non-athletes as well. Some go on to further education, and some move into clinical practice. Others, he continues, work with sports teams, including those in pro and semi-pro leagues.
The pay for treating sports injuries varies. Smyth says in the first couple of years of their careers, registered massage therapists can earn $45,000 a year, and someone trained to treat sports injuries can add another $15,000 to $20,000 to that. And that's irrespective of whether a sprain is picked up playing for Olympic gold or a round of beers.
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