<h1><b>A Look Into Sports Therapy Training &amp; What It Means For The Therapist!</b></h1>
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<b>SPORTS THERAPISTS</b>

<b>MANUAL THERAPISTS</b>

<b>We want to help….</b>

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<h2><b>Doing Research &amp; Gathering Quality Information</b></h2>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Last week we covered personal trainers and exercise professionals remit, this week will endeavour to cover sports therapists and sports massage therapists, who are another demographic we serve with biomechanics education.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">What I have discovered is that even within the last 10 years, what sports therapists are taught on courses has changed so much that previously a level taught could “treat” injuries, but now they can’t! Let’s take a deeper look and see what's going on….</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Whenever doing research we should ALWAYS check we are gathering information from reliable resources. To gather the best information for you I have spoken to both a Sports Therapy (ST) degree level lecturer with an Osteopathy degree (along with PT &amp; S&amp;C), a Chartered physiotherapist AND the founder of Sports Therapy Association (STA) who is an ST and heavily involved in the education system with QTLS letters after his name, as I do. This extensive group of practitioners backgrounds of education, experience and expertise are collectively what I would class as a highly respectful amount of professional opinion, knowledge and expertise. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">This is what we discussed:</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sports Therapy (ST) is NOT a regulated profession. While you can experience a good level of training on a degree, pretty much anyone with any amount of manual therapy training can call themselves a sports therapist - even after a one day course!</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Even at degree level a Sports Therapist (ST) won’t be able to officially ‘diagnose’ sports injuries. <a href="https://society-of-sports-therapists.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Standards-of-Proficiency.pdf#page7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Degree level ST will likely become a member of the Society of Sports Therapists or SST and these are the list of proficiencies for the remit of their members  CLICK HERE FOR LIST</a></span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We MUST be very careful about the wording we use and understand for our remit and skills as they may be misinterpreted or misunderstood which could take you, the practitioner, outside of your remit. It is YOUR responsibility to research YOUR professional language, vocabulary and skills as covered by YOUR insurer. Also to then discuss with your insurer any detail you may wish to clarify ie can I offer my service online? Does anything change by doing this?</span>

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<h1><b>Diagnosis or Diagnosing; By Clinicians ONLY </b></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">SST describes a degree level ST learner as having the ability to </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">clinically </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">hypothesise but would still have to refer for a </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">diagnosis</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">. Also, if the problem their client had was non-sports therapy related then the ST wouldn’t have had the necessary training to assess that and therefore wouldn’t know the things to look out for or the questions to ask.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">When learning on any sports therapy degree programme it should be made very clear that this level of training </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">cannot officially diagnose.</span></i>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">In Osteopathy standards of practise it is quite clear - <a href="https://www.osteopathy.org.uk/news-and-resources/document-library/osteopathic-practice-standards/updated-osteopathic-practice-standards/updated-ops-01092018.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HERE A4 7; A6 2.3, C1 1.3,1.4</a></span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Also in physiotherapy practise - <a href="https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/standards/standards-of-proficiency---physiotherapists.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">HERE 14.8</a></span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">If you are unsure we recommend you talk to a membership organisation to ask for clarification. Alternatively talk to Gary Benson via the STA, who is extremely proactive in communicating the remit of every level of ‘sports therapist’ from a short workshop right up to degree level. He is also the founder of the STA, which is a not for profit organisation that supports ALL sports therapists and bodyworkers in a huge variety of ways.</span>

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<h1><b>Who Are Classed as Clinicians or Allied Health Professionals?</b></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a href="http://www.hcpc-uk.org/"><b>Health and Care Professions Council</b></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> are an organisation which regulates health, psychological and care professionals in the United Kingdom. They set standards, hold a register, quality assure education and investigate complaints. They regulate:</span>
<table>
<tbody>
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<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Arts therapists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Biomedical scientists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Chiropodists/Podiatrists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Clinical scientists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Dieticians</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Hearing aid dispensers</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Occupational therapists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Operating department practitioners</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
<td>
<ul>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Orthoptists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Paramedics</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Physiotherapists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Practitioner psychologists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Prosthetists/Orthotists</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Radiographers</span></li>
 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Speech and language therapists.</span></li>
</ul>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
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<h1><b>How Level 3 Sports Massage Has Changed From Pre 2009-Now</b></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Gary explains here to try and offer some level of clarity in terms of the evolution of the education of ‘sports therapists’ at each level…</span>

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<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 3 Sports Massage qualification issued before 2009, included remedial techniques and insurable for “treating” injuries</span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 3 Sports Massage qualification issued between 2009 and 2014 MAY have included remedial techniques and MAY be insurable for “treating” injuries</span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 3 Sports Massage qualification issued 2015 - present does not include remedial techniques and is not insurable to “treat” injuries and does not contain prerequisite criteria to access Dry Needling or other invasive treatment courses.</span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 3 Sports Massage is aligned to 1 or 2 National Occupational competencies </span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 4 Sports Massage qualifications, since launched are insurable to ‘treat” injuries</span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 4 Sports Massage is aligned to 2 or 3 National Occupational competencies </span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 5 Sports Massage as Level 4 above</span></i>

<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Level 5 Sports Massage is aligned to 3 or 4 National Occupational competencies </span></i>

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<h1><b>Research Education Providers With Integrity</b></h1>
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<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Private training providers use numerical descriptors for courses that MAY not align with  QCF/RQF qualification levels and are for marketing purposes only.</span></i>

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<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">Sports Therapy is aligned to 14 National Occupational competencies but still not able to diagnose as this is the preserve of Allied Health Professionals or Regulated Professions as mentioned above (Osteopathy, Physiotherapy etc)</span></i>

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<i><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are variations in Sports Therapy qualifications across FdSc, BSc and Diploma courses, the latter do not appear on any qualification framework.</span></i>

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<h1><b>It’s Your Responsibility...</b></h1>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">If you want to keep up with the direction these industries are going in (even more so since lockdown) then check your education provider for their evidence of quality, speak to different insurance brokers about your training and the relevant cover (it's your responsibility to make sure you're covered) and stay on top of the very latest information through your accrediting bodies like CIMSPA.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Things change, as you can see from what Gary shared above, and sometimes without warning as lockdown has proven, so committing to good quality education, regular CPD’s, appropriate insurance cover and then </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">PRACTICING WITHIN YOUR REMIT</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> protects everyone while </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">INCREASING CONFIDENCE </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">both in ourselves AND in how we are perceived as an industry. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We give all of this support and guidance to our Biomechanics Coaches via the Intrinsic Biomechanics Association &amp; with the support of the Sports Therapy Association.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Challenge the system!</span>

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<h1><b>Building Your Referral Network</b></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We are in the process of trialling a brand new online </span><b><i>Clinical Clearance Consultation System</i></b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> that can speed up the process for PT’s &amp; ST’s in gaining clinical input, with meaningful transfer of information as guided by the government for consistent duty of care throughout the entire process.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">More information coming soon!</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">During lockdown, here at Biomechanics Education, we have been working hard to support as many professionals as possible to help the nation keep moving well and more freely. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">We view our role as vital in contributing to the health and wellness of everyone as much as possible. We can help more people through joining forces and sharing information we have with you about movement improvement techniques that can be taught, learned, delivered and received both online and in person.  </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">So to enable you to sustain your ongoing professional development and service delivery while finances are tight we have come up with what we think is an unbelievable investment.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We know the current situation sucks but there is light at the end of the tunnel now. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">And if you would like to add new skill’s to your locker then this is for you….</span>

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<h1><a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/product/intrinsic-biomechanics-online-cpd-mega-bundle/#tab-description" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><b>Would YOU Like To Access Our Lockdown Bundle?</b></a></h1>
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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We are doing all we can to support and help YOU all during the period of lockdown. So not only did we create a </span><b>Lockdown Bundle</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> we have also created a plan that means you pay </span><b>ONLY £397</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> to access:</span>

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<h1><a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/product/intrinsic-biomechanics-online-cpd-mega-bundle/#tab-description" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Lockdown Bundle;</span></a></h1>
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 	<li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">CIMSPA Membership for 1 year</span></li>
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<h1><a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/product/intrinsic-biomechanics-online-cpd-mega-bundle/#tab-description" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VIEW THE LOCKDOWN BUNDLE BY CLICKING HERE </a></h1>