Sports Rehabilitation

About the course

The practical application of sports rehabilitation is emphasised throughout the course and a lot of your study will involve practical laboratory and clinical work. This will be supported by teaching in theoretical principles of sport rehabilitation.

In addition, you will develop your understanding and application of the subject skills that are directly relevant to the workplace and lifelong learning will be developed throughout the course.

In the final year you will attend a 6-8 week placement, for example at a professional sports club, physiotherapy clinic or orthopaedic clinic, where you will work alongside sports healthcare practitioners and gain valuable experience of sports rehabilitation in a professional sports setting.

The course is accredited by the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT) which means graduates are automatically qualified to practice as sports rehabilitation professionals.

What you will learn

The course offers a unique approach to sport and fitness. It will give you a broad range of theoretical and vocational skills and knowledge that will equip you for the role of a sports rehabilitation professional.

You will build an understanding of theories and principles in sports injuries such as clinical and spinal anatomy, neurology and tissue dynamics, the principles of biomechanics, physiology and pathology.

This theoretical knowledge will support your learning in the practical application of sports rehabilitation which will include medical management on the sports field, boosting performance, movement analysis to prevent injury recurrence, exercise prescription and testing and counselling for injured athletes.

What you will study

You will study six modules in both your first and second year. These include four core modules in the first year which you must pass to progress on to the next phase of study. In the final year you will study five modules including your placement, ‘Clinical Experience’, which is a double module.

Project (20 credits at Level 3)

You will be required to design a dissertation in a relevant area of study. This unique opportunity will enable you to investigate any area of sports-related musculoskeletal medicine and provide in depth research into elements of the course in which you have a particular interest.

Special features

• The course currently has many links with top football and rugby clubs such as Sale Sharks Rugby League, Wigan Rugby League, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough Football Club. We also provide placements in physiotherapy musculoskeletal clinics and orthopaedic outpatient private clinics throughout the North West with some of the best orthopaedic surgeons in the country.

• Experts in the world of professional sport are guest lecturers on the BSc in Sports Rehabilitation. These include Rob Harris, the Wigan and Great Britain rugby league physiotherapist and Jonathan Harris, the renowned sports radiologist. Mr Andrew Smith, the England rugby union team doctor, gives a series of classes on Immediate Medical Management on the Field of Play.

• The sports rehabilitation degree runs a state of the art musculo-skeletal sports injury and spinal clinic at the university offering rehabilitation facilities to sports people at all levels. As a student on the course, you will have the opportunity to gain direct experience at the clinic through observation of rehabilitation work and ‘hands-on’ training.

Careers and professional development

Sports rehabilitation is an expanding area of the sports, healthcare and fitness industries. With people’s increased awareness of exercise and the need to prevent and manage injury there is a growing demand for practitioners specialising in healthcare for the physically active.

Career opportunities exist in professional sports clubs and private sports injury clinics. In addition, graduates can use the qualification to enter a range of other careers including teaching, the police, the fire service, the NHS or for postgraduate study in the field of sport science.

Professional recognition

The course is accredited by the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT), the professional body for Graduate Sports Rehabilitators (GSR).

BASRaT provides full professional liability insurance to all graduates which enables you to practice as a sports rehabilitation professional.

Mode of attendance: Full-time