The musculoskeletal system of the human body is a complex and fascinating system using clever lever and pulley systems and air cushioning techniques to allow us to move in the day to day. This course will cover the growth and development of the skeleton from birth right through to old age looking at how the body changes over time and frequent concerns that may arise.

This course will go into detail on the anatomy of the human skeleton and musculature to look at how our body functions when things are going well and what to look for, and how to treat, when things go wrong. Ranging from the study of how bone is formed and formulated to congenital disorders and growth factors we will learn why orthopaedic medicine is a field all of its own and the complex systems which come into play when looking at this fascinating field of study.

The Orthopaedic Care course runs from 9:30am – 4pm for 5 consecutive days with an hour break for lunch. We teach at a low student to tutor ratio (8:1) meaning that students are supervised and encouraged throughout their course.

Day 1

Morning Session: The Musculoskeletal System

Following introductions to other students and lecturers, students will have an opportunity to show their prior knowledge on the topic through a brainstorming session allowing us to gauge the overall level we can work at for the rest of the week.

They will begin their week with an overview of how the musculoskeletal system is structured, the types of joint, musculoskeletal connections, how the body moves and be brought up to speed on the foundations needed to study this complex topic.

Afternoon Session: Structure and the Skeletal Lifecycle

Having studied and discussed the broader topic of the musculoskeletal system as a whole we may now zoom in and look more closely at how bone is formed in the body. The methods the body uses to create a strong but adaptable system that can grow and change based on stressors and physiological requirements imposed upon it.

We will discuss how different to the average perception the skeletal system actually can be; its porosity, occasional flexibility, varying density and more showing what a fascinating system within the body the skeleton and structures of bone truly are!

Day 2

Morning Session: Nutrition and Bone Structure

A study of any system within the body would not be complete without looking at how diet impacts these systems. In this segment we will discuss how specific aspects of nutrition are utilised by the body to build and reinforce the bones of the body, what happens when the body is unable to do this due to nutritional deficiencies and how we can apply this knowledge to determine the root causes of bone disorders such as osteoporosis and fragile bones.

Afternoon Session: Preventative Nutrition and Bone Health

Having considered how nutrition applies to the formation of bone and what the body requires we will move on to looking at what we can do to avoid these deficiencies as well as how we can ‘shore up’ our skeletal system pre-emptively and the pros and cons it can provide. We will look at case studies of widespread nutritional deficiencies such as hypocalcaemia and how diet can be considered a serious public health issue facing today’s society from nutritional supplementation in the water supply to public education and the complex nature of nutritional science.

From here we will move on to look at bone health and how we would go about determining it in a patient before an injury can occur. This allows us to intervene and provide medications, dietary methods or even lifestyle changes to avoid these potential injuries as best as possible.

Day 3

Morning Session: Congenital and Degenerative Bone Disorders

This session will focus on disorders of the musculoskeletal system whereby management of the condition is our primary concern. This includes congenital disorders such as Osteogenesis Imperfecta, Marfan syndrome and more. We will consider how we would go about putting together a care plan for a patient with one of these disorders including physiotherapy, lifestyle adaptations, methods of transport and other concerns.

The following section concerns a similar but different patient concern; degenerative bone disorders. We will cover how we would go about planning a care plan for a patient with some form of degenerative disorder with similar considerations as before but also with a focus on how these requirements will change over time. This will include taking into account a patient's mental wellbeing as their physical abilities may decline over time and how we can best support our patient at every stage of the disorder.

Afternoon Session: Musculoskeletal Trauma

Moving on from the morning session we will begin to discuss how injury can impact the functioning of the musculoskeletal system and how we would go about treating injuries ranging from minor to severe. We will cover Wolfe’s Law and how bones adapt to trauma in specific ways including increasing their density, how this can be maladaptive in some settings and create issues of its own and how we would go about avoiding these issues through the use of various methods such as bone-setting, use of casts and more.

Day 4

Morning Session: Sports Injuries and Rehab

Looking at injuries most common to various sports we will look at how we would go about treating these issues ranging from broken limbs across many sports to tendonitis and common types such as ‘tennis elbow’. We will study how we would go about rehabbing an athlete who has suffered an injury to the musculoskeletal system whilst ensuring we are able to maintain their high level of performance as best as possible. This will include adapting training methods to accommodate the injury, what we need to avoid when allowing musculoskeletal injuries to heal such as bone overgrowth restricting movement or loss of tendon strength over time.

Afternoon Session: Muscle Development and Musculoskeletal Interaction

Building from our touching on sports science earlier in the day we will build on this to discuss muscular anatomy; it’s structure, relation to the skeleton, and methods of action by which it works to allow the body to push, pull and move. We will also study the relation of tendons to muscles in the body, how injuries may occur when an in-balance in strength exists between the two, when this is likely to happen and what we can do to avoid such injuries.

We will also cover methods we can use to measure relative strength in a patient and what it can tell us about their overall health, the benefits of exercise for a patient in terms of their musculoskeletal system as well as their health in general and how we can broach this subject with patients in a beneficial manner.

Day 5

Morning Session: Types of Bone Break and Reading an X-Ray

The final day of the week will begin with looking at the different types of bone breakage, their specific concerns, risks and most likely causes. We will build on this by learning how to read an X-ray of bones and how we can diagnose specific types of breaks using X-ray imaging before discussing the benefits and limitations of X-rays as well as how we would go about treating the injury.

Afternoon Session: Career Discussion & Quiz Time!

We will close out the week with a discussion on careers in orthopaedic care ranging from medicine to physiotherapy and everything in-between. Students will have the opportunity to discuss with their lecturers their specific career paths and gain an insight into how to go about formulating a career plan and progressing into their desired career.

To end the day, we will have a quiz on all we have covered throughout the week with a prize for the winner!

• Students must be studying a minimum of A-Level Biology or Chemistry.
• The course supports university and work experience applications, as almost all universities and employers now require previous laboratory experience before considering an applicant.

During this 5-day course, students will learn skills beneficial for any university application including:

• Show an understanding of the musculoskeletal system and its methods of action
• Explain how the various joints work and their risk factors
• Explain how bone is formed and the nutritional aspects of bone development
• Show an understanding of congenital disorders and how they can be managed
• Show an understanding of trauma injuries relating to the musculoskeletal system
• Put together a rehab plan for an athlete suffering a sports injury
• Show an understanding of how muscle is formed and works within the body
• Show an understanding of the different types of bone break and their inherent risks