Super Docs

Guest post by Tane Eunson – A student of the game (5th year M.B.B.S.) As a typical kiwi bloke, I’m a dyed-in-the-wool rugby fanatic (pardon the sheep reference). So when opportunities with two Super Rugby franchises arose for me in the past year, I picked the ball up and sprinted for the posts. As an ‘intern’ with the franchises, I was part of the ‘athletic performance’ teams. The hierarchical structures differed subtly within each team, but they both comprised the team doctor, two physiotherapists, two strength and conditioning coaches and a number of other interns in the varying disciplines. With regards to professionalism and teamwork, there was much for a student to learn in these environments. The athletic performance team would typically meet before 7am to discuss the players’ training statuses; the sports equivalent of ward rounds. “Andy has a Lisfranc fracture, remove cast and begin rehabilitation today”. “Johnny has an infraorbital fracture from last night, maxillofacial review tomorrow”. “Tom has a posterior malleolus fracture of his Tibia, arrange CT ?os trigonum fracture” etc. Of course, not all medical complaints were hard tissue, there were an array of soft tissue injuries too; posterior cruciate rupture, intercostal haematoma, pectoralis major rupture, pre-patellar bursitis and everyone has ‘bumps and bruises’. These injuries are hardly surprising when you have 30 muscle-bound men launching themselves at each other for over an ...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Tags: Medical Specialty Sports Medicine rugby Super Docs Super XV Tane Eunson Source Type: blogs