Fanshawe Athletics breaking new ground
Fanshawe took the lead and
became the first college in the
Canadian College Athletic
Association to change to an electronic
health assessment program.
Nathan McFadden, manager of athletics, said he is excited to have put this program in place. “With teams all starting around the same time ... it's just not feasible to get [athletes] through a full physical examination in a short amount of time or our medical team to see all our athletes for physicals. This allows us to attack that problem head on and allows us to get that data ahead of time.”
The new system allows athletes to file a detailed record of their health history online, which will be a lot easier for therapists and doctors to access should the athlete get injured on the road. The system, known as the Electronic Pre- Participation Evaluation, is a more in-depth health history form similar to one a patient would fill out at her doctor's office before being examined.
Rob Werstine, a physiotherapist at the Fowler Kennedy Sports and Medicine Clinic, explained there was a system in place before the program, but it was just more difficult to access. “Fanshawe did have a pre-participation physical system in place prior to this program, only it was a pen and paper.” The prior system had one paper copy that was kept in a filing cabinet.
“This new software...allows us to ask some more in-depth questions to keep a record of the athlete from year to year to allow health care professionals to easily access that [information].”
Another service being added is a full concussion management system that will ensure that athletes' concussions are managed properly and help them to return to play. This is crucial for today's athletes who may not know they have a concussion or need help in identifying the symptoms. Werstine said this is one of many tools that assist in diagnosing the concussion. “The baseline testing is one of the tools that we use to help decide when an athlete is ready to return to sport but by no means is it the only tool.” In addition to assisting in the diagnosis, Werstine said this would be another tool to use in helping an athlete return to play.
The program is a step in the right direction for the Athletics department and will help in improving athlete health and safety in sports. The technology is widely used across North America, including by high-profile organizations like FIFA and post-secondary institutions like Western University.
Nathan McFadden, manager of athletics, said he is excited to have put this program in place. “With teams all starting around the same time ... it's just not feasible to get [athletes] through a full physical examination in a short amount of time or our medical team to see all our athletes for physicals. This allows us to attack that problem head on and allows us to get that data ahead of time.”
The new system allows athletes to file a detailed record of their health history online, which will be a lot easier for therapists and doctors to access should the athlete get injured on the road. The system, known as the Electronic Pre- Participation Evaluation, is a more in-depth health history form similar to one a patient would fill out at her doctor's office before being examined.
Rob Werstine, a physiotherapist at the Fowler Kennedy Sports and Medicine Clinic, explained there was a system in place before the program, but it was just more difficult to access. “Fanshawe did have a pre-participation physical system in place prior to this program, only it was a pen and paper.” The prior system had one paper copy that was kept in a filing cabinet.
“This new software...allows us to ask some more in-depth questions to keep a record of the athlete from year to year to allow health care professionals to easily access that [information].”
Another service being added is a full concussion management system that will ensure that athletes' concussions are managed properly and help them to return to play. This is crucial for today's athletes who may not know they have a concussion or need help in identifying the symptoms. Werstine said this is one of many tools that assist in diagnosing the concussion. “The baseline testing is one of the tools that we use to help decide when an athlete is ready to return to sport but by no means is it the only tool.” In addition to assisting in the diagnosis, Werstine said this would be another tool to use in helping an athlete return to play.
The program is a step in the right direction for the Athletics department and will help in improving athlete health and safety in sports. The technology is widely used across North America, including by high-profile organizations like FIFA and post-secondary institutions like Western University.
