On October 15th and 22nd ONSF offered, as part of its Clinical Education Series, a course entitled: ACL Injuries in Athletes: From Sideline Management to Postoperative Recovery and Rehabilitation. A total of 28 physical therapists and athletic trainers attended the program.

The course shared current advances in ACL reconstruction and how to achieve a better understanding of the recognition and diagnosis of the problem. Instruction included sideline diagnosis and management, immediate treatment, pre-surgical principles, surgical considerations, and postoperative management—rehabilitation/return to play.

Following a formal didactic session was an open forum where the latest research in ACL surgery was discussed including choice of graft for reconstruction. After the discussions, participants moved to the ONSF Research Lab for surgical demonstrations on cadavers. Attendees also had individual opportunities to attempt knee arthroscopy using equipment in the Lab on a non-cadaveric surgical simulator. An additional open forum reviewed the current state of the art for rehabilitation after operative and non-operative management of ACL injuries.

The goal of this comprehensive course was to guide these professionals toward developing ideal methods for treating individuals with ACL injuries in order to optimize clinical outcomes. Faculty included: Program Chair Demetris Delos, MD, Mark Kowalsky, MD and Paul Sethi, MD. ONSF is accredited by the Connecticut and New York Physical Therapy Associations and the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer. All students attended at no cost and received CEUs for the course.

Feedback from attendees included: “Amazing experience,” “One of the best courses I’ve been to…loved how hands-on everything was.”