Foundations of Return to Sport: The Knee
In traditional rehabilitation, returning athletes to their sport often lacks a comprehensive, objective framework, leaving room for inconsistencies in decision-making. This is why we’ve created the "Foundations of Return to Sport: The Knee" course — to provide a structured, reproducible framework that ensures safe, successful returns to sport for athletes after knee injuries.
Our approach integrates objective assessments, evidence-based criteria, and individualized strategies, helping clinicians make decisions based on data rather than cognitive bias or emotion. This course will empower you to make more accurate, confident, and consistent decisions in your practice.
What to expect:
- A framework to ensure athletes are fully prepared and safe to return to sport
- Clinical decision-making tools for assessing strength, function, and psychological readiness
- Objective entry and exit criteria for return-to-sport clearance
- Hands-on lab with muscle strength testing, functional performance tests, and psychological readiness assessments
Course Format
This course will be delivered in a 1-Day Format and will include both lectures and hands-on practice. Participants will engage in discussions, practical exercises, and demonstrations, ensuring they can apply learned concepts to real-world clinical settings.
Topics
Part 1: Introduction and Review of Return to Sport Testing
Discussion of common knee return-to-sport tests and other criteria, focusing on orthopedic physical exams, dynamometry, functional performance testing, and patient-reported outcome measures.
Part 2: Muscle Strength Testing with Isometric Dynamometry
Instructors will demonstrate three techniques for muscle strength testing: Quadriceps, Hamstrings, and Hip Abductors. Participants will practice these techniques in breakout sessions using isometric belt-stabilized dynamometers. We will also cover Limb Symmetry Index (LSI), EPIC, and Strength-to-Bodyweight ratios.
Part 3: Functional Performance Testing
This section will cover key functional performance tests that are essential for assessing an athlete's readiness to return to sport. Participants will learn how to conduct and analyze these tests, with a focus on video analysis and biomechanical considerations for effective decision-making.
Part 4: Psychological Readiness
In this section, we will emphasize the critical role of patient-reported outcome measures in assessing reported function and psychological readiness for return to sport. These measures help clinicians evaluate the mental and emotional aspects of an athlete’s recovery, ensuring they are not only physically prepared but also mentally ready to return to play.
Accreditation
This class has been approved for CEU’s by the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) of Massachusetts