Sports medicine is a favorite elective for many students, especially those interested in a medical or sports related career. Oakdale High School (OHS) offers sports medicine as an elective to students in grades 10-12. It is taught by Mrs. Joan James, who is also an OHS health teacher and athletic trainer. 

“There is a set curriculum, but I am just given objectives and as long as I meet those objectives I kind of create the curriculum. I am actually revamping the curriculum for sports med [this summer],” noted James. 

She teaches students about physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), athletic training, and other sports related medical fields. The curriculum reviews different bones and muscle groups, different parts of the body and the potential injuries and treatments, CPR, and concussion protocols. At the end of the semester, there is a Sports Med Olympics, where students form teams and compete in a variety of activities such as ankle taping, practicing CPR, and making ice bags. 

“We did the basic knowledge of [the class material], and then we worked on the steps of diagnosing or recognizing an injury,” explained senior Molly Thompson, a past sports med student and current PACEE for the class. 

Many students take sports med because they have an interest in PT, OT, or athletic training as a career. Many of them enjoy the class and go on to take an internship to continue exploring the field. 

“I want to do physical therapy when I’m in college so I thought it was a quick preview of what I want to do in the future,” mentioned junior Jalen Keller. 

By taking the sports med class, students have a chance to shadow Oakdale’s athletic trainer, Mike Monahan. Monahan works with athletes on Oakdale’s sports teams to try to prevent injuries as well as treat and rehab injuries that do occur. This allows them to experience what the athletic training profession is like, as well as ask him questions about other options in the field. 

“It definitely increased my interest and led me to take an internship with Mike and from there I learned that athletic training wasn’t what I wanted to do, but I still wanted to do something in the field so OT was good,” shared Thompson. 

Oakdale’s sports medicine class is a great experience for students to learn about sports injuries and their prevention, as well as other occupations in the field.