Dates of the module: from February 28th to March 4th 2022

Place: Milano, Italy (specific place yet to be determined)

Theme: Injury prevention and return to sport/training.

Injury prevention and the return to competition have a valuable impact on sports performance, athletes health and sports economics. Particularly, the last point represents a noteworthy consequence of the first two points, given that the “cost per day” that an injured athlete represents to himself and the team. The present module aims to provide the participants with scientific, practical and valid methods to counteract the sports injury prevalence and decrease the time necessary to return to competitions.

Content of the module:

The module will include as first a brief literature discussion to highlight the epidemiology and the prevalence of injuries in sports practice. Then, the best practice to prevent injuries and to return to competitions will be discussed. The module will also focus on the selection of the most appropriate parameters and index to use for monitoring the injury risk and to evaluate the fitness status before the return to competitions.

Learning outcomes: at the end of the module the participants will be able to:

  • Identify the possible sport-specific injury risks.
  • Select the best-practiced procedures to prevent sports-specific injuries.
  • Choose and apply the best-practiced guidelines for making return athletes to competition.

Teaching structure:

  • Teaching will be structured starting from case studies, in which typical injury prevalence will be shown.
  • Then, flipped classrooms and peer learning will be used to discuss the methods to prevent injuries and make return athletes to competition.
  • Additionally, seminars will deal with specific items inherent to the main topics.

Examination:

The participants will undergo an oral examination, in the form of a group seminar, presenting injury-specific prevention guidelines. The seminar will be approved or rejected.