Sydney Health Sciences students play for Disability Awareness Week
Students from the Sydney Faculty of Health Sciences will compete against the professionals in a friendly match at the university’s Cumberland campus to raise awareness of the Pave the Way campaign on Sept. 3 and highlight Disability Awareness Week from Sept. 7 – 11.
Cumberland Student Guild Vice President and fourth-year physiotherapy student representative Hui San said the players felt really connected with the aims of the Pave the Way campaign.
“It aims to support students with physical barriers and help fund research that will improve the health and well-being of people of all needs and abilities,” she said.
Pave the Way is a 24-hour fundraising and awareness campaign and the University of Sydney‘s second annual giving day and the only challenge of its kind at any Australian university.
One of the areas being supported by Pave the Way is the bursary fund for students with disabilities who experience short-term financial hardship.
Rhys Baxter from the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) said he loved attending the university to teach students about wheelchair basketball.”We’re grateful that the student community here at Cumberland campus were so keen to show their support and get involved.”
Sydney Uni Wheel Kings player and Wheelchair Sports NSW representative Rick Engles explained wheelchair basketball—which is open to male and female athletes with permanent physical impairment to their lower limbs—is one of the major disabled sports practiced today.
“The game retains most key rules and scoring of basketball, including the ten-foot basketball hoop and standard basketball court,” he said.
“Players are assigned a point value from 1 to 4.5 according to their level of physical function, and teams may not exceed 14 points for the five players on court.”
NSWIS athlete and national wheelchair basketball team member Hannah Dodd said the event was also a chance for students to get a better understanding of what being in a wheelchair was like.
“Opportunities like this, where students can get in the wheelchairs and experience sports like wheelchair basketball firsthand, help our future physios and occupational therapists to be better at their jobs. They’re more empathetic to the needs of people and athletes with disabilities,” she said.
University of Sydney Master of Physiotherapy
The University of Sydney offers a two-year graduate-entry Master of Physiotherapy program, which is intended for students coming from an undergraduate degree in a related field and who wish to gain the requirements to become a physiotherapist.
Coursework throughout this program builds on the major areas of the profession, such as musculoskeletal, cardiopulmonary and neurological physiotherapy, as well as looking at the profession in its societal context.
Program: Master of Physiotherapy
Location: Lidcombe, (suburb of Sydney), New South Wales
Duration: 2 years
Semester intake: February
Application deadline: October 1, 2015
Apply to the University of Sydney Master of Physiotherapy
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