June 5

June 5, 2017 

Hello followers! We started this morning like every other morning with a hot breakfast at the hostel. We then had a few hours before our first planned group activity. Some went to a coffee shop close by where they enjoyed specialty coffee drinks and bakery items. A few others went to a souvenir shop to get some gifts for their loved ones (stayed tuned for your gift). At 11 we all met in the lobby to head out for our first lecture of the day. 

We walked to the University of Melbourne where we spent most of the day. Our first lecture was about Knee Osteoarthritis and Walking Canes by Julia Hart who is studying medicine at the University of Melbourne. She presented on her research on the use of walking canes with patients who have knee osteoarthritis. The first part of her research was surveying the patients to compare those who have used a cane before and those who have not. She found that factors contributing to capability and motivation were the leading reasons a patients used or did not use a cane.  The second part of her research was the facilitation of the walking cane. The patients would be sent a cane after a phone interview. They would spend seven days at home using the walking cane. They would then come into the lab where they would be observed walking. After walking a set distance with the cane, they were then given a 10 minute physiotherapy session on how to use the cane. To put it simply, the study found that it is beneficial to have a walking cane training session, the target audience is those with knee pain for longer than three years, and most people do not know what height to hold the cane. 

Dr. Jos Runhaar from the Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands also presented on knee osteoarthritis, in particular the prevention of knee OA. He research was a PROOF study, which is the prevention of OA in overweight females. 407 women were randomized which was a 46% inclusion rate. Only 10% of the women dropped out after 2.5 years. The women were split into two groups. One of which was prescribed diet and exercise, where the control group was given glucosamine phosphate. This allowed all women to receive a controlled intervention without knowing which group was the control group. The study was able to be conducted over 6.5 years. Measures were taken after 2.5 yearly s then again 6.5 years later. His results were not statistically significant but suggested that the group that was compliant with the protocol was less likely to develop knee OA. Overall, he concluded that there were significant effects of 5% weight loss in relation to developing OA. 

We then had a short break to grab a bite to eat before our tour of the University of Melbourne Centre Health, Exercise, & Sports Medicine (CHESM) and a couple presentations on sports medicine in Australia and femoral acetabular impingement (FAI). The first presenter walked us through who an athlete would see during the course of his/her injury. At the initial injury the athlete would see a sports physician or physio. Sports physicians are usually employed through elite sporting clubs or private hospitals; few are employed through public hospitals. The athlete is then referred to an orthopedic surgeon. After surgery the athlete would see a sports physiotherapist (physio). Most elite sporting clubs have their own physio (or multiple). Further along down the road, the athlete would see an exercise or sports scientist. A physiotherapist does more diagnosis and manipulative therapies. An exercise physiologist focuses more on the whole process of rehabilitation rather than the acute injury. The next presenter talked about her research called Full Randomized Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Hip Impingement versus best conventional care or FASHIoN. After our presentations we casually talked with the presenters about the differences between the American health care system and the Australian health care system. 

After our very educational day at CHESM we were on our own for a free afternoon/night. Some people went back to the hostel and ordered pizza. The others ventured around Melbourne and found some dinner as well. 

Hopefully I didn't bore you with all the research talk! Today was right up our alley as future Athletic Trainers. I can't believe we are heading home in a couple days. The time has been flying by! 

Maggie