Centre for Sports Medicine

 

The Centre runs a Masters (MSc) degree in Sports and Exercise Medicine which is aimed at practising health care professionals with at least two years experience.  This successful programme has been running for over 20 years and is constantly updated and improved. 

Prospective students

The MSc in Sports and Exercise Medicine can be undertaken on a one year full-time or two years part-time basis.  The course can also be undertaken as a Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip) by those who do not wish to complete a research project and dissertation. The PGDip can be taken full-time over nine months or part-time over eighteen months.

The Full-time course

The full-time course commences in September each year and runs until the end of September the following year, with teaching between September and the middle of June.  The syllabus is covered by lectures, seminars, demonstrations and practicals usually delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The other weekdays are reserved for private study, production of written reports and oral presentations, clinic attendance and research. A Sports and Exercise Medicine research project and dissertation is undertaken in the second semester and continues throughout the summer period. The dissertation is submitted in August with a viva voce examination at the end of September.

The Part-time course

The part-time course, identical in content to the full-time course, commences in September each year is covered over the 2 year period. Teaching in Nottingham takes place one day per week during semester time, totalling approximately 33 days each year.

Part-time courses starting in 2012 and 2014 will run on Tuesdays. 
Part-time courses starting in 2013 and 2015 will run on Thursdays.

In addition to the one day per week spent at Nottingham, students will devote the equivalent of an additional one and a half days per week to private study, production of written reports and oral presentations and research. Research commences during year one and continues through the summer into the second year. The dissertation is submitted in May with a viva voce examination in June/July in year two.  

Research

Staff at the Centre undertake research in Sports and Exercise Medicine related areas and exercise physiology.

• Dr Kim Edwards
• Professor W A Wallace
• Professor I A Macdonald
• Professor P L Greenhaff
• Dr K Tsintzas

Some of the research performed by our MSc students had been outstanding and had led to peer-reviewed publication.  The current MSc students are working on some interesting projects.  This is a sample of the research projects which our students are undertaking:

• Examining diet/fluid intake to maximise ultra endurance performance.
• Investigating optimal adventure race strategies.
• Forces generated in the rugby scrum – a pedobarographic study of the front five.
• The effect of posterior chain training on incidence of hamstring injuries in professional footballers.
• The role of patellofemoral pain syndrome in delaying the rehab of post operated ACL patients.
• Speed and completeness of recovery following a clavicle fracture.
• Incidence of Stinger injuries in Premiership Rugby League football players.
• The assessment of deep pressure pain thresholds in healthy individuals before and after exercise.
• The association between time to referral and time off sport/work.
• Physical activity & obesity.
• Effect of beet root juice ingestion on exercise metabolism & performance in healthy humans.
• Effect of supine vs upright cycling on cardiovascular and ventilatory responses to exercise.
• The impact of vitamin D levels on athletic performance.
• Effect of beet root juice ingestion on resting cardiovascular responses to acute mental stress.

There are also a number of self-funded PhD studenships available at the Centre.

Recent Publications

Quraishi NA, Giannoulis KE, Edwards KL, Boszczyk BM (2012). Management of metastatic sacral tumors. European Spine Journal (accepted April 2012). In press.

Fraser LK, Edwards KL, Tominitz M, Clarke GP, Hill AJ (2012). Food Outlet Availability, Deprivation and Obesity in a Bi-ethnic UK Sample of South Asian and White Women. Social Science and Medicine. In press.

Fraser LK, Clarke GP, Cade JE, Edwards KL (2012). Fast food and obesity: A spatial analysis in a large UK population of children aged 13-15. American Journal of Preventative Medicine. In press.

Cheng SC, Sivardeen Z, Wallace WA, Buchanan D, Hulse D, Fairbairn KJ, Kemp S, Brooks J (2012). Shoulder Instability in Professional Rugby Players - The Significance of Shoulder Laxity. Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, Vol 22.  

Garg S, Alshameeri ZA, Wallace WA (2012). Posterior sternoclavicular joint dislocation in a child: a case report with review of literature. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery, 21, 3:11-e16.

Collaborations

The English Institute of Sport (EIS), along with the UKSport Research and Innovation team, have launched an injury/illness prevention and management programme aimed at the prevention of injuries and illness in high performance sports. Dr Debbie Palmer-Green , Sports Medicine Research Fellow working on this project, is based at the Centre for Sports Medicine in Nottingham. The Injury/illness Performance Project (IIPP) forms a major part of this research with a focus on London 2012.

The aim of the IIPP is to have a performance impact through the development and implementation of a bespoke injury/illness tool for high performance sport in the UK. The provision of accurate and meaningful injury and illness data will help to guide prevention initiatives, in an effort to reduce the number and severity of athlete injury and illness events.

The IIPP is the first national injury epidemiological study of its kind and aims to lead the way in high performance injury epidemiology research.