The Sports Physical Therapy Program is funded by Proaxis Therapy and operates in collaboration with the Steadman Hawkins Clinic of the Carolinas. The program is design to be a twelve month educational curriculum.

Each of the options includes the following basic curricular components that occur concurrently through the program.

• Clinical Practice
• Clinical Mentoring
• Sports Specialist Training
• Clinical Investigations
• Clinical-Decision Making
• Didactic Coursework
• Specialty Practice Observation

ABPTS Description of Specialty Practice

The Program utilized the Sports Physical Therapy Description of Sports Specialty Practice (2002), to develop its curriculum.

Performance Outcomes

The overall performance of the Program’s Residents has been outstanding, demonstrated by the 100% success rate of its graduates on his/her initial attempt at passing the ABPTS – Sports Certified Specialist Examination.

As the Program evolves and becomes more advanced in the evaluation of its mission, goals, curriculum and outcomes, it will look more objectively at the performance measures used to evaluate each specific goal of the program to further evaluate the clinical capabilities and characteristics of the graduate.

For more information please click on the following:

• Program Goals
• Curriculum Overview
• Sequenced Major Components of the Curriculum
• Instructional Methods

Basic Curricular Components

Clinical Practice (CP): The resident provides physical therapy services at Proaxis Therapy. The goal of the component is for the resident to gain experience in the management of sport and orthopaedic pathologies and ultimately integrate all other curricular components into his/her clinical practice. There are three sequences of CP (I – III), each phase requiring the resident to increase efficiency and productivity.

Clinical Mentoring (CM): The resident receives one-on-one mentoring with a board certified specialist, a physical therapist with doctoral level training, an athletic trainer or a physician. The resident and mentor will focus patient population and mentoring on one specialty for 3 months (Upper Extremity, Lower Extremity, Spine, Sports Medicine). Within each specialty there are three sequences of CM (I – III), each phase emphasizing specific skills to include examination and screening, diagnosis and prognosis, and intervention/return to sport as noted in the Description of the Curriculum. The three sequences will be covered during the three month specialty rotation. Each resident will complete 1-3 appropriate mentor binders over the first month of each specialty. Clinical mentoring will occur regularly at Proaxis Therapy during dedicated time in the resident’s schedule – however, additional one-on-one mentoring can occur off-site such as in the athletic training room or on the sidelines of an athletic venue.

Sports Specialist Training (SST): The resident participates in the prevention, evaluation, treatment and triage of sport related injuries. The experience includes the management of sport relate injuries and physical therapy coverage at athletic venues. There are three sequences of SST (I – III), with SST I emphasizing specific skills related to basic competencies such as wrapping, taping and equipment fitting. SST I also includes a rotation through the high school injury clinic conducted by the primary care sports medicine physicians. The second phase emphasizes exposure to “on-the-field” emergency management of sport injuries to include: spine boarding, splinting, face mask removal, equipment removal, and emergency transport. The third sequence will also emphasize training related to sports performance training and off-season conditioning. The resident will also have opportunities to work with the professional and/or elite athletic population and Accelerated Sports Institute Performance Program.

Clinical Investigations (CI): This course includes three phases; the first (CI I) provides an overview of the process of evidence-based medicine including a review of asking a clinically relevant question, searching for evidence, critically appraising the evidence and applying evidence to practice. Residents will also be introduced to the principles of outcomes management and the process of developing a minimal data set to track clinical outcomes. CI II will require the resident to collect data for the approved disease process or region of impairment during Clinical Practice (II – III). CI III will provide the resident with instruction on how to analyze and interpret the data set established during CI II.

Clinical Decision Making (CDM): This course is designed to expose the resident to the progress and logic associated with differential diagnosis and clinical decision making and involves three phases. Residents are challenged to deduce the diagnosis of a clinical case problem and to determine how the diagnosis relates to the care of the patient. This occurs in an interactive forum among students, residents, academic and clinical faculty at Proaxis Therapy and the Steadman-Hawkins Clinic of the Carolina’s. During the first sequence of this course (CDM I), the resident will be required to systematically collect clinical information related to the evaluation and treatment of a unique clinical case problem. During CDM II, the resident will be required to present this case in an oral format for discussion at Physical Therapy Grand Rounds. The resident will be required to integrate the clinical case problem presented in CDM II into written format suitable for publication in JOSPT as Case Report or Resident’s Case Problem.

Didactic Coursework: During each specialty section of the CM course, the resident will be required to perform certain didactic activities. These activities include journal clubs which focus on evidence based practice relative to the CM specialty. In addition the resident will receive four (4) two (2) hour lectures which will focus on anatomy, biomechanics, evaluation, rehabilitation, return to sport which will be directed towards the specialty.

Specialty Practice Observation: The course is designed for the resident to experience the multidisciplinary management of the entire athlete. They will be required to participate in mentored and/or observational experiences with the following members of the sports medicine team: concussion experts, primary care physicians, orthopaedic surgeons, sports performance trainers, biomechanists, and sports medicine researchers.

Additional Information here