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Sport and Exercise Medicine Placement

Module description

This module will provide practical experience of working in a performance sport setting as part of the support team.  Your placement will be working alongside sport science / sport medicine staff to deliver day-to-day support in an area of interest (i.e. sports science performance testing, physiotherapy treatment and rehabilitation, clinical assessment, medical screening), dependent on your background and professional interests.  As part of your placement you will be set a project task and will produce a report on your findings and present this to your placement provider. This module will provide detailed insight into the challenges of working in the high-pressure environment of professional sport as part of a team of support staff.

Module aims - intentions of the module

This module aims todevelop your knowledge and understanding of different disciplines involved in a sport and exercise medicine support team, and how your role integrates with the team to provide optimal levels of support.  You will gain an invaluable experience of the sector and develop a range of transferable career skills.

Graduate attributes. As part of this module you are expected to develop the following skills:

• Work in a team and deal proficiently with the issues that teamwork requires (i.e. communication, motivation, decision-making, awareness, responsibility, and management skills, including setting and working to deadlines)
• Professional, business and commercial awareness skills in a multidisciplinary applied setting.
• Increased confidence and effective approaches to operating in a professional context.
• Strategic thinking in evaluating the role of a specific discipline (i.e. sport science, medicine, physiotherapy) as an integral part of the sport and exercise medicine support team.
• Application of knowledge to develop a portfolio of experience.
• Manage time and communicate effectively with mixed audiences, including applied practitioners, peers and module teaching staff.
• An awareness of recruitment, application and selection methods for roles in the sector.
• Enquiring mind in pursuing further reading on topics experienced during the placement.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Evaluate the range of roles, knowledge and experience of a sport and exercise medicine support team.
• 2. Critically assess the contribution of you, the sport and exercise practitioner, in contributing to the provision of holistic support for performance and/or injury management.
• 3. Write a professional business report, and deliver a formal presentation of your project findings to senior stakeholders

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. Apply research evidence to critically evaluate the role of a specific discipline as part of a support team
• 5. Apply initiative in problem solving

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 6. Demonstrate independent learning ability, self-direction and originality
• 7. Communicate written arguments clearly and confidently
• 8. Act professionally in a workplace sport setting, including delivery of a project report and/or presentation
• 9. Manage information with minimum guidance
• 10. Develop professional networks

Syllabus plan

Term 1: Identification of Work Placement

• In preparation for the placement, you will be supported by both group and one-to-one meetings held with the Academic Placement Tutor and the Careers and Employability Service. These bespoke meetings will be conducted with a view to allowing you to enhance your chance of gaining a suitable placement and making the most of the opportunity.  You will also develop a CV tailored for the sports health sector and increase your awareness of approaches to make the most of networking.  Once you have secured a placement, you will agree with your employer a set research project or task brief that you will undertake whilst on placement.  The findings of this will be presented to the employer as part of your assessment. 
• To enhance your experience, knowledge and skills set whilst undertaking this module you are recommended to complete the Exeter Award.

Term 2: The Placement

• This will include contact hours to support the structuring of the placement project and the development of a project brief report and presentation and a reflective portfolio.  The placement will be 3-weeks in length (or equivalent) in a high-performance setting and can commence from January, with the 3 weeks completed prior to the end of July. The placement should be in a high-performance setting, such as with a sport team or in a military establishment.

• Once the placement has been completed you will produce a reflective portfolio.  The focus of this will be on detailing and evaluating your role within the multidisciplinary team, and the skills and professional competencies you gained from the experience.

Scheduled Learning and Teaching:

• Introduction – developing a placement plan
• Preparation for report writing
• Preparation for presentation
• Tutorial 1
• Tutorial 2

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• My Career Zone Resources– filter by CV, Applications, Assessment Centre etc
• My Career Zone Digital– online videos and training to support skills development
• Module ELE pages

Key words search

Sport performance, military, injury management, work experience