Trinity College Dublin

Sports & Exercise Medicine

The aim of this MSc course is to allow participants further their career progression in musculoskeletal and sports and exercise medicine by enhancing basic background knowledge in anatomy, exercise physiology, sports and exercise science, in addition to high quality practical and critical thinking skills in musculoskeletal assessment, rehabilitation, and exercise testing and training prescription. Students will achieve this through a tiered process starting in Semester 1 with two basic science modules in Anatomy and Exercise Physiology; and a Research Methods module. In anatomy students develop a thorough knowledge of musculoskeletal and neuroanatomy through instructor lead dissection based practical classes examining joints and the organisation of the central and peripheral nervous systems. In the exercise physiology module, learning focuses on the key systems for sports and physical activity; energy systems, muscle physiology, cardiovascular and respiratory systems; and whole body hormonal and homeostatic responses to physical activity and exercise.

In the second semester the focus shifts to clinical aspects of sports and exercise medicine, such as musculoskeletal assessment skills, rehabilitation protocols; aspects of team and individual athlete care within different sports; and an exercise science module also contains new components on physical activity and population health. Critical thinking skills are developed in instructor lead clinical case scenario-based teaching with real patients and student led seminars reviewing the current literature to demonstrate the scope of problems encountered in day to day care of athletes and teams, and the physically active of all ages and gender.

As this course will be evidence-based, students will become critical consumers of the literature in the area of sports and exercise medicine. The research methods module in Semester 1 of each academic year will develop a students' ability to critically evaluate the latest research in order to keep up to date with the latest clinical advances in the discipline, enable the student to formulate a research question and give them all the skills necessary for high quality research project design, from statistical modelling, ethics application, power analysis, high quality data collection, data handling, statistical analysis; and finally scientific report writing worthy of submission as a journal article or critical review.
This MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine can be completed in one or two academic years and will be made up of six taught modules (10 ECTS each) and a research project (30 ECTS). All course material is currently presented in lecture, workshops, seminars and practical class-based formats on campus. All students will be required to have a PC or Mac computer with large RAM capability and at least 4-6 GB storage capacity to allow use of large statistical data analysis packages such as SPSS; and for future developments of 'on-line' course delivery.

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.

•All applicants should provide two references, either two academic or preferably one academic and one work related reference confirming their eligibility and suitability for the programme, which together with applicant's academic performance during their undergraduate years will be used to select the most suitable candidates.

•Language requirements for students whose first language is not English are as per the requirements in the Calendar part 3 for a given academic year.

•Applications for admission to the programme will be made through the online SITS system, no later than June 31st of each academic year. Early applications meeting all entry criteria can be accepted prior to the closing date; and, if oversubscribed all subsequent applications meeting entry criteria before the cut-off date will be put on a waiting list. Suitably qualified applicants on the waiting list will only be considered if places subsequently become available. Potential applicants are therefore encouraged to apply early as the course is usually oversubscribed and places are limited.

•Applicants must have regular access to a computer with good internet connection. The computer should have both a microphone and camera as all shortlisted applicants will be required to undertake an interview to determine suitability for the course.

•Applicants who do not exactly fit the above criteria, but who have high level sports and exercise service provision experience will be assessed on an individual basis in line with Trinity RPL policy.

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

All taught components are based on campus. There are three modules in each semester. One year full-time students must complete three modules per semester and a research project in one year. The 2-year part-time students also complete three modules per semester in Year 1 and then complete the research dissertation in Year 2. Currently basic science modules AN7104 (Anatomy); AN7105 (Exercise Physiology) and AN7106 (Research Methods) take place in Semester 1 of each academic year; and, clinical modules AN7107 (Sports and Exercise Medicine); AN7108 (Musculoskeletal assessment and Clinical Skills) and AN7109 (Exercise Science) take place in Semester 2. In the two-year part-time MSc, students complete all six taught modules in Year 1 and the research dissertation in Year 2. Two year part-time students must successfully complete all six modules in Year 1 to progress to Year 2.

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.