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Two ARTI members will be conducting workshops as part of this month’s FSEM Annual Scientific Conference 2016.

The highly regarded annual conference, which is supported by ARTI, will take place in the RSCI from September 15 to 17, and will feature workshops from Dearbhla Gallagher and Diarmaid Brennan.

Dearbhla’s topic is entitled, “Risk factors and modifiers – application of concussion tools” and will take place on Thursday September 15 from 3pm to 5pm. Meanwhile Diarmaid’s workshop is on “Prevention and Rehabilitation of Hamstring injuries”, and will be conducted on Saturday at 2pm. Given the topical nature of both talks they are sure to attract great interest among those attending the conference.

Concussion is Dearbhla’s area of special interest and she decided on this particular topic for the workshop due to her concern in relation to concussion for those at grassroots and school sport particularly among female and child athletes.

“There are several problems that those in these groups face but I believe that many of these can be solved by identifying risk factors and modifiers of concussion injury and how these can be applied to useful tests”, she stated and explained that the workshop will look at several tests that can facilitate a concussion assessment.

“The Standardised Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) is the industry wide endorser tool and is due for review this October at the 5th International Concussion in Sport Conference. Several advances in research suggest there will be several likely changes to the test in the months after the conference. The SCAT has several limitations that clinicians should understand and take into consideration during utilisation of the test both in the immediate aftermath of the concussive event and in the rehabilitation/return to sport process. Many of these limitations can be remedied with other complimentary tools”, added Dearbhla.

Dearbhla, who graduated from the Athletic Therapy and Training programme in DCU in 2010 and is an Alumni of the Placement at University of Pittsburgh (USA), is currently combining private clinical work in London while studying for a PhD in Concussion at St Mary’s University London.

She believes this workshop will be of benefit to clinicians as it is vital to keep up with advances in this area.

“With hundreds of articles released every month on concussion, it is important to review the current evidence regularly. The Consensus Statement on Concussion is released every four years but during these periods advances in clinical knowledge should not cease as it is highly likely that major evidence could emerge during these times whereby care of the concussed athlete be advanced and be up to date”, she stated.

The workshop will no doubt provide very useful information for clinicians as Dearbhla reveals.

“I am aiming to provide emerging and up to date evidence from an applied practitioner standpoint for the assessment and rehabilitation of concussion – not just endorsed information. Combining the evidence and the application of current and available (reliable and valid) tools in order to leave with practical information that can be implemented in a variety of settings”, she explained.

Meanwhile, Diarmaid’s workshop is also expected to be very popular given that he will discuss another important topic – that of hamstring injury prevention and rehab.

It is an area that Diarmaid is very familiar with his role as Senior Injury & Rehabilitation Coach with Leinster Rugby, and sharing his knowledge will benefit those in attendance.

He will discuss various types of strains from the severe Grade 3 to the less serious from the viewpoint of prevention and rehabilitation.

“I am looking forward to the workshop as I think it will be interesting as it covers different levels of hamstring injury. I will discussing at the return to play process and how to benchmark where a player should be at a particular time in relation to recovery”, revealed Diarmaid who graduated from Carlow IT with a degree in Sports Rehabilitation and also runs the DB Sports Injury Clinic.

“I think the workshop will be of benefit to everyone and hopefully they will find it interesting. How to differentiate the types of hamstring strain, how to load them and exercise selection are the main components of the workshop.

“I will look at area such as when the athlete is ready to run and what exercise is best as this is a big part of the rehab”, explained Diarmaid.

For full details on the FSEM Annual Scientific Conference 2016 visit http://fsem2016.com/