"Sports physiotherapists get good placements"

Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu

THE prospects for sports physiotherapists are very bright, says Dr Jaspal Singh Sandhu, Professor and Head, Department of Sports Medicine and Physiotherapy, Guru Nanak Dev University. He is also President of the Indian Association of Sports Medicine. and an Executive Member of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine. He has presented research papers at national and international conferences, and is the first Indian, and second Asian, to have contributed an article to the International Federation of Sports Medicine’s current issue of the Team Physician Development Manual.

Excerpts from an interview:

We have a plan to start a one-year Postgraduate Diploma in Medical Jurisprudence from the next academic session. The course has been specifically designed to handle complex medico-legal cases. Graduates from the medical and legal streams can enroll for it. Besides, we are working on a proposal to hold the next session of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress in the country in 2009 . I have written to the Punjab Governor for eliciting his approval to hold the event at Amritsar.

They can get attached with sports bodies, fitness centres, join the defence forces or become teachers. The can also open their own clinics.

Placement for postgraduates is hundred per cent, with about 70 per cent students going abroad. One student of the department has joined the Saudi Arabian Olympic Association. Comparatively, postgraduates enjoy better job opportunities than graduates .

Graduates treat patients afflicted with disorders of joint muscles, bones, brain, nerves and certain cardio-pulmonary conditions which require long-term physiotherapy support. The aim of this programme is to create quality human resources in this field of healthcare.

The postgraduate students, besides curing patients, communicate effectively and appropriately with athletes, coaches and health professionals to maintain the best practice standards in sports physiotherapy. They utilise advanced clinical competency and expertise, including clinical reasoning, in the assessment and treatment of sports-related injuries and perform detailed musculoskeletal assessment specific to an athlete.

The students are provided maximum opportunities to practically utilise their knowledge. So far, the department has provided physiotherapy cover in various major sporting events, besides giving regular medical cover to the sportspersons of the Punjab Police.

— Neeraj Bagga