GERMANY, 2008

Picture the green rolling hills of Germany and the beautiful Swiss Alps as backdrops for athletic training clinical education. Hard to imagine, but not impossible, as nine athletic training students from Chapman University recently completed an 18 day, study-abroad, clinical rotation course in these countries. ATEP Director Ky Kugler, EdD, ATC, and Dr. Homayun Gharavi, German Academy of Applied Sports Medicine (GAASM) in Regensburg, Germany, designed the August travel course for the AT students with the goals of improving their professional development, leadership and communication skills. While the focus for this second travel course remained the same as the first Chapman travel course to Australia held in January 2007, the challenges were very different and unique this time around.

ATEP Director Ky Kugler stated, “Communication was a little trickier in Germany, so the students took three, day-long crash classes in German language survival prior to the trip and three more days worth of classes immediately upon arriving in Regensburg.” When the mayor of Regensburg hosted a reception on the first day, the Chapman party realized how essential the language lessons would be as they came into play immediately. The lessons helped later in the week as Dr. Kugler and the students participated in regional television and radio interviews and in a GAASM sports medicine documentary featuring the Chapman experience/exchange program.

Dr. Kugler was pleased with the outcomes of the trip: “We learned a lot from our first effort to Australia in January 2007 when we took 26 students there for almost four weeks. We shortened the course by almost 10 days, but still were able to experience many clinical education and cultural opportunities. Having the class for only 18 days made it easier on the students and this old ATC to be away from family and friends.”

The group’s clinical rotation began with a hands-on workshop in ultrasound diagnostic evaluation, Dr. Gharavi’s specialty. The students learned the theory behind the ultrasound imaging and practiced with the equipment on both upper and lower extremities. Another day was dedicated to Kinesio-Taping techniques and applications. Moving to St. Moritz, Switzerland after the first week, the students participated in conversations with the sports medicine specialists from the St. Moritz Klinik on high altitude training. Other clinical sessions included mountain rescue with the Red Cross REGA helicopters and with Dr. Wolfgang Siegfried of the Adipositas-Reha- Zentrum “Insula” an adolescent obesity rehabilitation center. The group also had “think tank” discussions with the Holland Speed Skating team while in St. Moritz and the FC Bayern Futbol Club upon their return to Munich, Germany.

“The students gained a real appreciation for and valuable knowledge about many different sports medicine topics not normally covered in depth within the AT curriculum. The conversations held in the Swiss Alps with the MDs from the orthopedic clinic, REGA and Insula, along with the health care professionals with the Holland and FC Bayern teams were simply awesome due to the knowledge shared with these junior students,” Dr. Kugler noted.

Cultural sites in Regensburg included visits to the home cathedral of Pope Benedict XVI, a Danou River boat trip, and a tour of the Walhalla Memorial and Medieval Torture Chambers. In Munich, students visited the 1972 Munich Olympic Venue, the Alliance Arena (home of the 2008 FIFA World Cup) and the Dachau Concentration Camp. St. Moritz, host of two winter Olympics and numerous world championships, provided numerous opportunities to see winter athletic venues. A few of the students took the train on one off day to visit the Nuremberg Rally Grounds and even a quick, half day visit to Salzburg, Austria, home ofMozart occurred. Kugler said that the study-abroad opportunities are an awesome experience for the AT students at Chapman. Knowledge about high altitude training and the ability to see healthcare professionals working in unique sport settings made this trip wonderful for the California based ATEP.

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