The Yale Sports Medicine Center will sponsor a free seminar on Friday, Sept. 20, for high school coaches, athletic directors and school health-care providers in the Greater New Haven area.
"This program continues a commitment of community service that has been a tradition of the Yale Sports Medicine Center," says Dr. Peter Jokl, director of the center and professor of orthopaedics and rehabilitation at the School of Medicine. "This course will disseminate the latest information on injury, prevention, treatment and rehabilitation that should benefit high school athletes in our area."
At the seminar, Yale orthopaedic surgeons who specialize in sports medicine will describe common types of sports injuries, ranging from muscle strains and contusions to ankle breaks and shoulder problems; initial treatment; and follow-up care. They also will outline disqualifying medical conditions, such as a unilateral kidney or only one eye, which would preclude young people from playing contact sports.
Dr. Marc T. Galloway, an associate professor of orthopedics and rehabilitation who with colleagues has organized this seminar, says, "We also plan to discuss the evaluation and treatment of knee injuries, as well as the usefulness of knee braces and other types of supportive devices." Dr. Galloway, who specializes in sports-related knee injuries, adds that "the knee is the most commonly injured joint in the body" and that "the incidence of knee injuries in sport continues to climb, given that today's players are stronger, larger and faster than their predecessors."
In addition, physical therapists from Gaylord Hospital will describe new rehabilitation techniques being used after sports injuries -- specifically the trend away from rest and immobilization and toward resuming normal movement sooner.
The seminar is scheduled to run 9:30 a.m.-noon in the second- floor auditorium at One Long Wharf in New Haven. Display stations on bracing, imaging, rehabilitation and taping will be set up in the Yale Sports Medicine Center, located on the building's sixth floor. To register for the free seminar, call 203-764-9771.