Sports Medicine
Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity - Hippocrates
Sports Medicine Staff
The Athletic Training Staff at Worcester Academy is dedicated to providing quality healthcare to all student athletes. The staff is responsible for the prevention, recognition, treatment and rehabilitation of sports related injuries
Worcester Academy athletic trainers are certified by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association and licensed by the Massachusetts Board of Allied Health Professions. Athletic trainers work in conjunction with the school physician, adjunct physicians and the school Health Office in order to provide students with appropriate health care.
Worcester Academy has a working relationship with the Sports Medicine Clinic at the UMass/Memorial Hahnemann Campus and has a physician from the clinic at all home football and boy’s ice hockey contests. The athletic training staff is available before and after all practices and home contests.
Management of Concussion Policy
According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), a concussion is a type of brain injury that changes the way the brain normally works. A concussion is caused by a bump, blow or jolt to the head. Concussions can also occur from a fall or blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. Even what seems to be a mild bump can be serious.
Worcester Academy has established a protocol to provide education about head injuries and suspected concussions for coaches, school personnel, students and families. This protocol outlines education plans and procedures for staff to follow in managing concussions, and outlines school policy as it pertains to return to learn and to play issues following a concussion.
Worcester Academy institutes a gradual return to academics after being diagnosed with a concussion. The Health Office Staff along with Dean of Academic Success, the student’s advisor, and the teaching faculty will work together with the student to develop and implement a plan that gradually returns the student to full participation in academic activities.
Return to activity and play is a medical decision. The student must be asymptomatic at rest and with both cognitive and physical exertion. Once the above criteria are met, the student will be progressed back to full activity following a step-wise process. The athletic training staff will closely supervise this progression.
