Sports Therapy - BSc (Hons)

This module provides you with the principles of injury management and exercise in the early, intermediate, and late stages of recovery from sporting musculoskeletal injuries. You will learn to plan, implement, progress and regress comprehensive rehabilitation programmes to return the athlete to full sporting participation, as well as reading and evaluating research evidence supporting different rehabilitation approaches.

This module will build on the practical skills developed at Level 4 as you focus on developing your understanding and application of the objective assessment process. You will work on your theoretical understanding of the principles underpinning peripheral joint assessments, as well as enhancing your practical handling skills. You will also consider the subjective nature of an assessment in more detail as you focus on specific questions related to each joint. This module will challenge you to consider the purpose of each stage of an assessment process to ensure you are fully equipped to assess any peripheral joint presentation.

In this module you will learn how to assess the spine and examine spinal conditions that frequently occur in the sporting environment. This module builds on the principles of joint assessment that you learnt in Level 4 and 5, but further develops your ability to interpret and reason the findings of an assessment. You will also learn how to implement and prescribe early management techniques for common spinal injuries and conditions.

This module will provide you with the foundations underpinning biomechanics, mechanisms of injury and pathological conditions. You will learn how to use biomechanical tools, such as force plates and cameras to measure and analyse a range of movements in healthy and pathological conditions, as you understand the biomechanical risks of injury. Similarly, you will apply your theoretical knowledge of biomechanics to assess movement.

This module will prepare students for the Independent Research Project at level 6. The module will provide scenarios and conditions that will improve students’ ability to interpret and critique research, as well as make logical conclusions. Learning and teaching will be carried out on aspects such as how to answer research questions by analysing and presenting data, and a variety of ‘soft skills’, such as organisation and communication are developed.

Students may opt to complete the Professional Placement Year, whereby they will need to complete a minimum of 1200 hours with a professional sports team or club. As part of this year, they will complete a SWOT analysis, formulate learning outcomes, and regularly reflect on their practice and development of skills in relation to the goals / outcomes set. There are quarterly student reflections and supervisor feedback, alongside reviews with the placement lead to ensure the placement is meeting the requirements of the course. The completed documentation will need to be submitted and will receive a pass/ fail grade.

This module provides the opportunity to design and carry out a substantive piece of independent research, which is focused on the student’s interest. This in-depth, self-managed study will encourage the examination of a critical issue from a particular sector or discipline. The skills, knowledge, and experience that students have gained from level 4 and 5 will be important in this module. The core learning within this module will involve independent work, and this will be supported by regular tutorial sessions with a project supervisor. The use of the department’s state-of-the-art facilities will be available to students to use for their projects. There may also be the opportunity to work with selected external partners.

The aim of this module is to allow you to acquire a theoretical and practical understanding of strength and conditioning in relation to preventing sports injuries. You will gain an insight into musculoskeletal screening and how to conduct, analyse, and present test data in a real-world context. You will be able to examine contemporary training theories and successfully apply the principles into a periodised training plan. As with all modules, you will examine and critique the scientific basis supporting the inclusion of specific exercises within training programmes.

This module explores the use of manual therapy techniques for the restoration of normal peripheral and vertebral joint biomechanics. Building on your knowledge from Assessment and Management of Musculoskeletal Injuries and Assessment and Management of the Spine, you will further assess joint biomechanics, particularly focusing on the relationships between accessory and physiological movements. This module will allow you to explore normal and altered joint function and apply treatment techniques to sport and exercise-related injury scenarios. 

This module will help to consolidate the skills you have developed since the start of the course and will cover additional topics that will be useful to you upon graduation—such as key information for setting up and running a business. This information will be focused specifically on sports therapy, but the principles discussed will be applicable to any area you may wish to work in in the future. We will also cover additional aspects relating to your clinical practice in a sporting environment, such as on-field injury assessments and strapping and taping techniques. By the end of the module, you must have completed 200 hours of supervised clinical practice from your placements to ensure that you meet the competencies to be registered as a Graduate Sports Therapist, accredited by The Society of Sports Therapists.

This module will provide you with the opportunity to progress your skills in assessment and management of musculoskeletal injuries, focussing on more complex clinical case scenarios. It will integrate clinical examination, assessment, pathophysiology, rehabilitation and therapeutic methods for the treatment and management of sports injuries. You will also be exposed to contemporary issues in Sports Therapy and encouraged to develop advanced clinical reasoning and assessment skills to assist your differential diagnosis and injury management.