Registration is now open for this summer’s Functional Anatomy Boot-Camp, hosted by Queen’s School of Rehabilitation Therapy, taking place July 18th -19th. This year’s boot-camp will be the second of its kind, following the resounding success of last year’s event.
The inaugural 2014 Boot-Camp was originally designed to help prepare students for entry into the occupational and physical therapy academic programs. As broader interest in the programming became apparent, the opportunity was shared with universities from across the province as well as with members of the public and current clinicians who travelled to Kingston for the two day event.
Students who attended represented a diverse range of disciplines including bio-medical engineering, nursing, medicine and occupational therapy and physical therapy. One student participant commented that the Boot-Camp, “provided crucial foundational knowledge, and relevant practical clinical applications to give me the confidence to start medical school,” in the fall.
Additionally, clinicians attended from various areas of practice including nursing, medicine and occupational and physical therapy. “Amazing weekend! As a practicing clinician I was thankful for the refresher,” commented another participant.
As well as students and practicing clinicians, the event drew individuals who were interested in learning more about human anatomy in relation to their professional or personal lives. The event also attracted several participants who were considering pursuing academic programs in health sciences and wanted to experience the unique learning environment.
The event is designed to be intensive, hands-on and collaborative. Participants are organized into cross-disciplinary groups to facilitate networking and interprofessional learning. The attendees work with bone-sets to develop an understanding of anatomical terminology and its application to the skeletal system. Additionally, material focused on the muscular system is delivered in the Medical School’s Human Anatomy Learning Centre both in the museum and laboratory, working with donor specimens. Throughout the event, the instructors demonstrate techniques in clinical palpation.
After last year’s rigorous weekend, participants left with a base of learning with which to start their fall academic programs or with a fresh understanding to bring to their clinical practice, professional or personal lives. Beyond the benefits of the learning experience, important professional connections were made and new friendships forged. In the words of one participant, “The instructors created a fun learning environment…I learned a lot and met some awesome new friends with similar interests!”
Registration for this event is now closed.