School of Physiotherapy

Staff and postgraduate students recently resorted to begging, borrowing, but hopefully not stealing to find something to wear for what is becoming a School tradition – Indian Dinner Night.  From gorgeous saris and kurtas, to a beautiful Thai dress and oddly a Russian soldiers uniform, all came dressed to impress.  The dinner brings everybody together mid-year to warm up and indulge in great food, while bringing a bit of much needed colour to some people’s “Dunedin” wardrobes .  Over a selection of great curries and of course bhajis, naan, poppadoms with raita and chutneys, etc. staff and students relaxed and laughed about the year so far and refueled for the year ahead.

 We would like to thank Sridhar Alla (PhD Candidate) and Indian Summer for helping us enjoy a wonderful evening, as well as thanking all those who helped out with wardrobe!

The Centre for Physiotherapy Research encourages its research students to promote themselves and disseminate their work through presentations and conference posters, publications and awards. The Centre is happy to have a number of students who have been successful in achieving scholarships: this year we also have three summer studentships, one of whom (Chrissie Russell) presented at the Otago Medical School Research Society Poster Presentations. Many of our students associated with the REAL Neurological Research Group presented posters at the recent Neuro-Symposium held in Nelson earlier this year and one student (Cath Smith) presented at the World Congress of Physical Therapy held in Vancouver in June. In addition, Gisela Sole, a PhD student nearing the end of her candidature, recently had an abstract accepted by the 188th Scientific Meeting of the Otago Medical School Research Society. We offer our students the opportunity to present to the Research Student Seminars held at the School, in order to develop their research skills, and to give them the confidence to successfully present nationally and internationally.

SCHOLARSHIPS:
University of Otago - Sridhar Alla
Topic: An investigation of post-concussion return-to-play (RTP) guidelines.
Supervisors: John Sullivan, Leigh Hale

University of Otago - Pattariya Intolo
Topic: Effect of low back pain on 3D lumbar and hip dynamic movement
Supervisors: David Baxter, Stephan Milosavljevic, Allan Carman

University of Otago - Alireza Oskouei
Topic: Hand and finger movemant, imaging, biomechanical modeling and surface shape changes
Supervisors: Allan Carman, David Baxter, Mike Paulin

University of Otago - Neetu Rishiraj
Topic: The efficacy of functional knee-bracing in a sport environment
Supervisors: Peter Milburn, Richard Newsham-West

University of Otago - Joanna Smith
Topic: Towards an understanding of the massage therapy cycle
Supervisors: John Sullivan, David Baxter, Andrew Gray

University of Otago - Chris Sole
Topic: The effect of footwear on sensori-motor factors within the body and relationship for the prevention of injuries
Supervisors: Stephan Milosavljevic, John Sullivan, Andrew Gray

Health Research Council - Disability Placement Programme Scholarship - Hilda Mulligan
Topic: Perceptions of recreational physical activities for people with disability in New Zealand
Supervisors: Prof. David Baxter, Dr Leigh Hale, Lisa Fitzgerald

Health Research Council - Disability Placement Programme Scholarship - Jaya Pal
Topic: Exploring falls in people with Intellectual Disability
Supervisors: Dr Leigh Hale, Dr Anne Bray, John Dockerty

Health Research Council - Disability Placement Programme Scholarship - Dr Katrina Varian
Topic: Falls in adults with physical disabilities, excluding the elderly
Supervisors: Dr Anne Bray, Dr Leigh Hale, Dr Birgit Mirfin-Veitch

SUMMER STUDENTSHIPS:
Health Research Council Summer Studentship - Alice Barach
Topic: Learning effects on the NeuroCom Equitest ® Motor Control Test in healthy adult subjects.
Supervisor: Dr Leigh Hale

Otago Medical Research Foundation Summer Studentship - Chrissie Russell
Topic: The measurement of thoracic spine motion parameters in a healthy young population
Supervisor: Dr Margot Skinner & Dr Gill Johnson

New Zealand Society of Physiotherapy Summer Studentship - Matthew Cornford
Topic: Knowledge and behaviours of New Zealand physiotherapists regarding prescription rights and medications.
Supervisor: Dr J. Haxby Abbott

The School of Physiotherapy was successful in obtaining a William Evans Fellowship to invite Assoc. Prof. Paul McCrory from the Centre for Health, Exercise and Sports Medicine at the University of Melbourne, Australia to visit the School in May. Dr McCrory is a consultant neurologist and sports medicine physician and has published widely in the area of neurology, sports medicine and sports-related concussion in particular. He is also a National Health and Medical Research Council Fellow.

While here Assoc. Professor McCrory held seminars at the School to staff and students outlining trends in sports medicine research. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious British Journal of Sports Medicine and provided students and staff with some useful insights with regard to getting their research published. He also held a number of lectures in the Department of Psychology, Dunedin School of Medicine’s Neurology and Neurosurgery Departments, and presented at the Medical Forum.

The School organised a Public Lecture at the University entitled “Demystifying Concussion” which was well attended by; Physiotherapists, General Practitioners, Sports Medics, coaches, parents, students and members of the wider community. It proved to be a very interesting and enlightening lecture.

In addition to the various seminars and lecturers Assoc. Prof. McCrory gave while here, he also worked closely with our researchers on projects in his area of expertise.

He worked with Professor John Sullivan and members of John’s research team (and PG students) who are currently collaborating with Assoc. Prof. McCrory on a number of projects. One of these is the assessment of the diagnostic ability of a recently proposed Sideline Concussion Assessment Tool to screen for possible concussion in young sportspersons. He is also investigating whether young sportspersons report a concussion to a coach, team-mate or their parents, etc. Many concussions go unreported and thus players often don’t get the medical advice needed for the management of their injury. Another aspect of his research is investigating whether parents have the knowledge to recognise a possible concussion in their children and whether they understand the importance of seeking medical advice.

Assoc. Professor McCrory also spent some time with Dr Tony Schneiders who has UORG funding to undertake research looking at the influence of different levels of exercise on the performance of carrying out the SCAT. This is to help differentiate whether the changes observed following a concussion can be attributed, in part, to participation in physical activity.

Assoc. Professor McCrory’s visit was hugely successful and enabled the School to develop its research ties with Assoc. Professor McCrory, as well as benefit from his expertise.
(for more information on any of the research mentioned please contact: emma.tumilty@otago.ac.nz)

When Fitness Life magazine was looking for expert information and recommendations on the "top 10 sporting injuries and how to prevent them" (Issue 30, May 2007, pp114-116), they contacted the Otago School of Physiotherapy. Lecturer Gisela Sole, Clinics physiotherapist Steve Tumilty, and clinical research co-ordinator Dr Haxby Abbott of the New Zealand Centre for Physiotherapy Research contributed information on hamstring strain, calf & shin strains, ankle sprain, foot pain and other common injuries, plus data on the frequency of injuries seen at the University's clinics in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.