The University’s new Sports Clinic has officially opened.
Combining expertise and facilities from the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences (SSES) and Kent Sport, the Canterbury campus-based Clinic will provide a range of world-class services to students, staff and the public, including sports injury diagnosis, prevention, rehabilitation, physiotherapy and performance testing.
The new Clinic boasts a range of high-tech equipment available to the public, including a 13 camera motion capture system to analyse an athlete’s movement in 3D, an anti-gravity treadmill ideal for rehabilitation requiring reduced weight bearing, an ultrasound scanner and a Delfi Blood Flow restriction machine. This Clinic equipment has previously supported elite athletes and Olympians, as well as local athletes and recreational exercisers from the local community.
Additionally, University sports students will also be able to access the full breadth of Kent Sport’s fitness suite, which includes a dance studio, indoor sports halls and outdoor pitches.
Based at Canterbury, SSES is home to many of the UK’s leading specialists in endurance physiology, sport and exercise nutrition, exercise and health, post-injury rehabilitation, respiratory issues in athletes and the benefits of physical activity in people with chronic medical conditions. In conjunction with the new Sports Clinic, it will continue to operate its renowned diagnostic and rehabilitation services at Medway Park Sports Centre.
Amongst the Clinic’s staff is Head Physiotherapist Vicky Annis, whose accolades include working with elite GB triathlon stars the Brownlee brothers, GB short track skating athlete Elise Christie, England Netball, British volleyball and British athletics.
Dr Glen Davison, Head of SSES, said: ‘The high-quality research undertaken in the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences feeds into all areas of the new Clinic, with our advice, treatments and support drawing from the latest developments in the field. It will also provide our final year students on the Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation programme with further opportunities to learn more about injury prevention and rehabilitation in a supervised, clinical setting and apply what they have learnt in an expert and professional environment. This will be hugely beneficial to their appreciation of entering the professional field.’
Mel Clewlow, Director of Sport at Kent Sport said: ‘Kent Sports Clinic is set to be a regional leader in specialist provision of improved performance and rehabilitation, the same expertise that has put the School of Sport and Exercise Sciences and Kent Sport on the map. This combined offering will provide exciting opportunities for such sports students and the athletes who have come to benefit from our insights over the years, and for our local community.’
Further information on Kent Sports Clinic can be found here.