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Trinity College Dublin

Sports & Exercise Medicine

This course is offered by the Discipline of Anatomy (Human Performance Laboratory) of the School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences. The course is specifically designed for qualified medical doctors, chartered physiotherapists and will be offered on a trial basis to a limited number of Athletic Training and Rehabilitation Therapists and Sports Therapists currently involved in sport service provision to teams, individual athletes and the physically active general population. The aims of this course are:
◦ To present a scientific basis for the study of all aspects of Sports and Exercise Medicine
◦ To outline a comprehensive programme for injury prevention, treatment and rehabilitation.
◦ To outline the scientific basis for exercise, training and monitoring of athletes.
◦ To enable participants to prescribe safe exercise and training for the general population, of all ages, both genders and those with chronic disease.
◦ To expose participants to the wide range of orthopaedic surgical and medical specialities relevant to sport and exercise medicine.

Course Structure/Content:
The topics dealt with in the course are: anatomy; exercise physiology, research methods; clinical sports and exercise medicine; musculoskeletal assessment and exercise science. In addition students are required to carry out a research dissertation.

Entry requirements

Admission Requirements:
• Successful medically qualified applicants will hold a level 8 degree at 2nd class honours or equivalent level in medicine. Degrees for all medical applicants must be recognised as Irish, UK or EU equivalent degrees. Non-EU doctors must have worked in Ireland, the UK, or EU for a period of at least 12 months to be eligible for the course. Those with appropriate clinical experience in athlete/team service provision will be prioritised.

• Successful physiotherapy qualified applicants will hold a level 8 degree at 2nd class honours or equivalent level in physiotherapy. Applicants must hold ISCP, CSP (UK) or EU equivalent state registration as a physiotherapist, prior to applying for the course. All applicants with physiotherapy and/or physical therapy degrees from non-EU universities must undergo prior Irish state equivalence procedures (CORU) before applying for the course. Those with appropriate clinical experience in athlete/team service provision will be prioritised.

• Successful athletic training/sport therapy applicants will hold a level 8 degree at 1st class honours level or equivalent (GPA 4.0) in (a) athletic training and rehabilitation therapy or (b) sports rehabilitation therapy. For athletic training and rehabilitation therapy graduates, the undergraduate degree programme must be recognised by BOC (USA), CATA (Canada) and ARTI (Ireland); and preference for a small number of places will be prioritised to degree holders from Ireland, Canada and the US. Similarly with sports rehabilitation therapy graduates from the UK, the primary degree must be recognised by BASRAT and therapist must be appropriately registered. Only a small number of places will be allocated and preference/priority will be given to those with a minimum of 2 years clinical experience in athlete/team service provision will be prioritised.

Duration

1 year full-time, 2 years part-time.

The course runs five days a week during the academic year and is offered in two formats:

• One year full-time where students complete six taught modules and a research dissertation in one academic year

• Two year part-time where students must complete six modules in the first year and a research dissertation in the second year.

Careers or further progression

All students who complete six taught modules successfully in Year 1 will be eligible for a Post-graduate Diploma in Sports and Exercise Medicine. In order to achieve the exit award of MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine, students must complete all six taught modules (60 ECTS) and the research dissertation component (30 ECTS) within one academic year, if full-time, or two academic years if part-time.

Further enquiries

Course Director
Dr. Nick Mahony
Telephone Number +353-1-896 1182
Email njmahony@tcd.ie anatomy@tcd.ie
Website https://www.tcd.ie/medicine/anatomy/postgraduate/

Subjects taught

The M.Sc. carries 90 ECTS credits, and comprises the following modules:
• Anatomy (10 credits)
• Exercise Physiology (10 credits)
• Research Methods (10 credits)
• Sports and Exercise Medicine (10 credits)
• Musculoskeletal examination and clinical skills (10 credits)
• Exercise Science (10 credits)
• Research Project (30 credits)

Assessment method

Modules are assessed by in-course and end of term examinations consisting of:

(a) Written examination – Multiple Choice Questions and Short Answer Questions

(b) Practical examinations – competence in musculoskeletal examination techniques, clinical cases, athletic and exercise laboratory and field based assessment skills.

(c) Written course work assignments – including critical reviews, case reports, data handling assignments and journal paper reviews.

All modules must be passed (>50%). In clinical modules there is no compensation allowed between written papers and any practical clinical skills examination component. For the 2 year part time option the dissertation can only be undertaken if year 1 taught modules have been completed successfully. The degree is externally monitored and examined.