Sofia Laplante

Title of Work:

Physical Health in the Rehabilitation and Prevention of Sports Injuries

Abstract:

Combatting and preventing injuries is a vital part of an athletic lifestyle. Throughout my internship at the physical therapy clinic in the Montemar Athletic Club, I learned how to effectively create rehabilitation programs for athletes who suffered from injuries and implemented functional exercise programs to prevent any future injuries in these athletes. This report details the methods used throughout my internship to create a healthy rehabilitation environment for patients both in a clinical and gym setting. These methods include incorporating specific functional exercises for each athlete, depending on their injury, sport, and level of training, as well as tools used in the clinic (including diathermy, massage, and electromagnetic therapy). In this report I will further investigate what kinds of approaches are used in gym setting rehabilitation programs for athletes in the U.S. and how they differ from those used in Spain. In addition, this report examines how living in Alicante affected my language acquisition and furthered my cultural awareness and understanding.

Title of Work (IGP Language):

La Salud Física en Rehabilitación y Prevención de Lesiones

Abstract (IGP Language):

Combatir y prevenir lesiones es una parte vital de un estilo de vida atlético. A lo largo de mi pasantía en la clínica de fisioterapia del Club Atlético Montemar, aprendí a crear programas de rehabilitación para deportistas que sufrían lesiones e implementé programas de ejercicios funcionales para prevenir futuras lesiones en estos deportistas. Este informe detalla los métodos utilizados a lo largo de mi pasantía para crear un entorno de rehabilitación acogedor para los pacientes tanto en el gimnasio como en la clínica. Estos métodos incluyen la incorporación de ejercicios funcionales específicos para cada deportista, dependiendo de su lesión, deporte y nivel de entrenamiento, además de las herramientas utilizadas en la clínica (como la diatermia, el descargo y la magnetoterapia). También, en este informe investigaré las similitudes y diferencias entre los programas de rehabilitación en el gimnasio para los atletas lesionados y para la prevención de lesiones en los EE.UU. en contraste con los de España. Además, se examina cómo vivir en Alicante afectó mi adquisición lingüística y adelantó mi comprensión cultural.

Elevator Pitch Video

Elevator Pitch Transcript:

Hi! My name is Sofia Laplante, and my project focuses on “Physical Health in the Rehabilitation and Prevention of Sports Injuries''. I study Biomedical Sciences and Modern Languages with an emphasis in Spanish and spent my time abroad in Alicante, Spain. At the University of Alicante I took classes under the Physical Education and Exercise Science major which helped me greatly during my internship.

I completed my internship at the Montemar Athletic Club, where I worked at a physical therapy clinic. Montemar is a multidisciplinary sports club that provides a community of promoting physical health to its clients who practice sports such as soccer, padel, swimming, tennis, weightlifting, etc. I was excited to choose an internship that allowed me to be in a clinical setting, and helped me to understand how the importance of physical health and wellbeing is approached in Spain. I was drawn towards this internship because it is not standard lab work, and instead allowed me to be in the field and understand the inner workings of an unconventional clinical setting in Spain. At Montemar, I worked under the physical therapists and learned how to create an effective rehabilitation program for many different types of injured athletes. I began my internship observing both the therapists and the trainers as they built exercise programs in the gym to prevent and rehabilitate injuries. Then, towards the end of my internship, I applied what I had learned while watching the functional exercise training they implemented, and created my own programs that I carried out with patients in the gym. At the clinic we used a mixture of functional exercise programs specific to the athlete’s sport and injury and clinical tools (such as diathermy, massage, and electromagnetic tools) to rehabilitate patients. At Montemar, we worked with athletes of all ages and many types of sports. The main focus with the athletes was to build and maintain their strength to help stabilize vulnerable joints and get them back to playing their sport to continue maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.

I could not have asked for a better internship than the one I was able to experience at Montemar. I learned so much, not only about physical therapy and athlete health, but also about the Spanish used in clinical settings and the dynamic of patient-therapist relationships in Spain. Completing my internship in Alicante allowed me to gain a multicultural perspective about the importance of diversity and global understanding in the healthcare field.

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