Fourth-year students in the Athletic and Exercise Therapy (AET) program have opened a clinic at Interurban campus where Camosun students can be treated for sports-related and other injuries.
Camosun students training to be athletic therapists run the clinic, which is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The clinic is open to all Camosun students, and is currently free, though there are plans to charge a small fee in the future.
“We’ll see lower back pain, shoulder problems, ankle sprains, neck pain, headaches. Basically, anything you’d see at a regular physio or athletic-therapy clinic,” says clinic supervisor and certified athletic therapist David Laurin.
The student athletic therapists assess and treat injuries using exercise prescription and manual therapy, as well as ultrasound or electrical stimulation. The clinic, located in Campus Centre 107, is outfitted with rehab exercise equipment, such as Swiss balls and dumbbells, plus ultrasound machines and electrical stimulation machines.
“I would definitely use this service because it’s helping students learn by gaining hands-on experience, and why not get it for free and learn more about your body?” says university transfer student Emily Ternullo.
Students in the AET program have to do 600 clinical hours and 600 field hours as part of their program. To gain their clinical hours, the school places them with clinics in the city, but this year they weren’t able to find enough placements for students. The solution was to start a student-run clinic on campus.
It’s a win-win for AET and Camosun students; students who go as clients get a free (or ultimately cheap) service and the AET students get hands-on experience.
At a regular clinic, clients expect the clinicians to be professionals, but at the student clinic the clients going there know students will attend to them, says Laurin.
“The students do 95 percent of the work, and I just help guide them,” says Laurin. “It’s a good deal. It’s cheaper than any other clinic in town, because they’re being seen by students, but they’re getting a full service, and I’m there to supervise, to make sure they’re working properly and safely.”
AET student Shawna Neal says the clinic is a valuable experience. “We’re able to practice and apply the skills we learn in class in the real world,” she says. “I’m learning new things every day, and it really is a positive environment in which to gain experience.”
Email atstudentclinic@gmail.com for more information or to book an appointment.