Concord University's Athens campus will
host a sports medicine conference.
The 2013 Sports Medicine Conference of
the West Virginia Athletic Trainer's Association, or WVATA, will take place March
22-23 in the Rahall Technology Center on the university's Athens campus.
Concord's Athletic Training Education
Program is hosting the event.
"This is an opportunity to showcase the
campus, to showcase the athletic training education program as well as many of
our health care personnel we utilize in this area … physicians, physical
therapists, athletic trainers," said Joseph A. Beckett, professor and director
of the Athletic Training Education Program, or ATEP.
"We wanted the conference to have
southern West Virginia roots," Beckett said.
A number of the speakers have regional
and national reputations with ties to the local area.
Beckett is a graduate of Bluefield High
School, as are Dan Martin, chairman of the graduate athletic training program
at West Virginia Wesleyan College, and Mike Goforth, head athletic trainer at
Virginia Tech.
Jim Kyle, a clinical professor and medical
director of the Concord ATEP, is an Athens High School alumnus.
Among the topics to be
presented are trends in concussion management, the examination and management
of neck injuries, sports trauma in cheerleading, the status of athletic
training coverage at West Virginia's secondary schools, functional foot
evaluation and gait analysis, and emerging and alternative techniques in
treating athletes and returning them to play.
Conference attendees
will include nationally certified athletic trainers from across West Virginia
and the region, physicians and other healthcare personnel, and students from colleges
and universities with nationally accredited ATEPs, according to Beckett.
"The conference has a number of student
components," he said. Concord students and other students from across the state
enrolled in ATEPs are participating. Along with attending lectures, a select
group will compete in the annual WVATA Quiz Bowl and offer oral presentations
and posters.
CU's quiz bowl team was runner-up in
the event last year. Beckett said the team is preparing for competition again
this year. Of the 19 posters accepted, Concord has four and occupies one of
only four student oral presentation slots.
Concord's ATEP is one of an elite group
of accredited programs in the United States.
In 2009, Concord received an unusual 10-year
award of continuing national accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation
of Athletic Training Education. Beckett said awards usually are for five years,
with some programs receiving seven-year accreditation.
The conference offers
9.25 continuing education units for BOC-certified athletic trainers and three
hours of graduate credit through Concord University.
Participants who register by March 1,
2013 receive a discount on the course fee.
For more information contact Beckett at
jbeckett@concord.edu
or (304) 384-6063. Additional information about
Concord's ATEP is located at http://athletictraining.concord.edu.
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