Seeing the Sydney Opera House for the first time

Author: Emma Burns | Major: Exercise Science | Semester: Summer 2024 

During the May Intersession, I embarked on an eighteen-day internship program with the Sports Travel Academy to three major cities in Australia.  While traveling to Sydney, Cairns, and the Gold Coast I partnered with students from The University of South Carolina, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, The University of Tennessee, The Ohio State University, and the University of Georgia. Collectively, we worked together to grow in our knowledge of how the United States practices Exercise Science compared to Australia. A portion of my internship consisted of visiting facilities of prominent Australian sports entities such as the Cronulla Sharks, Cairns Taipans, and the Gold Coast Suns. By learning from less prevalent sports disciplines in the U.S., I expanded my understanding of how we practice Exercise Science, particularly how technology is leveraged to propel athletic performance in these areas.

I was tasked with using my current knowledge of best practices in the United States and comparing them to practices in Australia to bring back my new knowledge for future research and application. This consisted of working with Australian physiotherapists and learning their methods for return to play for athletes, the use of force plates, diagnosing, treating, and taping methods for patellofemoral pain, and the importance of Pilates for holistic recovery and wellbeing.

This trip not only enriched my knowledge academically, but I grew in my professional goals as well. I expanded my knowledge of healthcare as a business and how to calculate my worth in that field. I learned how to broaden my clinical experience, understand evidence-based medicine, and how to become the ideal candidate for graduate school. One of my biggest takeaways was the need to gain as much experience as possible. A well-rounded student can do their best in school, but if they do not have clinical experience in their future profession, it means very little. Knowledge without putting it into practice or observing is not beneficial. Now that I am back home, I look forward to gaining even more experience, admitting that I do not know all the answers but am willing to learn.

Upon completing this program, I left with new knowledge and questions. What’s next for me is an exploration of new topics that I would like to grow my understanding of. A couple of these topics include how generations work together in the field of healthcare and the use of satisfactory outcome tracking for its reliability in predicting team outcomes. I also have a new interest in disablement model case studies for improving clinical outcomes.

In summary, this experience taught me to take every opportunity as it comes for a chance to grow, admit that I am still learning, and be willing to do hard things. I am grateful for my newfound global perspective on Exercise Science, and I have still much to learn from the Australian sports community.