I spent this past weekend in Minneapolis, Minn. attending the American Chiropractic Association Sports Council annual symposium. This is an event that brings together chiropractors from across the country with a common interest in working with athletes. There were many chiropractors there who work on the international level, providing care at Olympic games and countless other World events. There were also chiropractors who work with professional sports teams in the MLB, NFL, and NHL, and even others who are team doctors for different colleges across the nation.

We had different courses that were available to us over the weekend, all of which related back to the treatment of athletes. I most enjoyed the breakout sessions on post-concussion recovery and the open panel discussion, where a group of successful sports chiropractors were open for questions regarding their practices, teams, and anything else we could come up with. I learned a lot this weekend and found the information very valuable for the planning of my future practice.

Although networking with these leaders in the sports chiropractic field was an exciting aspect of the symposium, I spent most of my time presenting my student research as a participant in the annual Thomas Hyde Research Poster Competition. During the last two years or so I had been slowly putting together my research on the “Assessment and Management of Subacromial Impingement Syndrome and Front Crawl Swimming Pathomechanics.”  Having swum my entire life and experiencing subacromial impingement syndrome myself, I really enjoyed learning more about it, as well as  learning a ton about research and how to present it.

I was one of six student presenters from Sports Council chiropractic programs across the country, and the only student from NUHS (and only the second NUHS student ever to participate in the contest). Over two days we all shared our research in two to five minute presentations during every symposium break, amounting to a little over 3 hours (total) of presentations, questions, and discussions on the topics.

Left: Carlo Guadagno, DC, Professor of Clinical Sciences-Florida, Center: Award recipient Addison Ozakyol, and Right, Florida student Michael Abenoja, past NUHS Sports Council President. 

We were scored in a series of categories (relevance, application, etc.) by the doctors of chiropractic in attendance, and scores were collected to determine the winner of the award and its associated scholarship. I am honored to say that I was awarded the 1^st place grand prize award for the poster competition!!! To be scored so highly against the other incredibly talented student research presentations has been such an amazing feeling–I’m still riding a euphoric feeling–I can hardly believe it!

It has been a challenge balancing everything with school and adding in extra research, but I couldn’t be happier with the result. I learned so much from this experience and made connections that will help establish myself in the world of sports chiropractic and research. I hope to bring my success back to NUHS and use it to increase our school’s involvement in the contest. It is such a rewarding opportunity that should be looked into more by our students. I look forward to further pursuing my own research, and am eager to see what doors open for me in the future.

If you would like to read my research abstract or poster, please send me an email and I would be more than happy to share it with you. As always, if you have any questions, please email me at [email protected].