AIS backs athlete preventative healthcare model with scholarship program

Four students enrolled in the world-first Master of Applied Clinical Epidemiology (MACE) course at the University of Canberra (UC) are set to benefit from a new Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarship program.

Earlier this year, the AIS and the University announced they had joined to develop the MACE course, a unique academic program designed to provide health professionals with the skills and insight to optimise elite human health and performance.

The course is co-designed with Australia’s leading practitioners in the area of performance health program implementation in response to an emerging professional development priority.

The AIS has committed to working towards building system capability across High-Performance sport and believes the MACE course will assist National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) and National Institute Networks (NIN) to give their athletes the best chance of podium success.

The inaugural scholarships recipients, Melissa Crunkhorn, David Spurrier, Benny Pagett and Ben Raysmith, are all currently employed within the High Performance sport system in a variety of disciplines and all hold vital roles in supporting athletes in the lead up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Advising that he is looking forward to seeing the course learnings translate into improved plans and strategies to prevent athlete injury to enable podium success, AIS Chief Executive, Peter Conde stated “this course is designed to deliver graduates who will be world leaders in the delivery of performance-driven health strategies that contribute to the success of Australian athletes.

“The University of Canberra are leading the pack in this space and we look forward to seeing how the first wave of MACE graduates, including Melissa, David, Benny and Ben, can change the way we look at managing health in sport.”

Queensland Academy of Sport Performance Health Manager and scholarship recipient, Melissa Crunkhorn, said she was looking to further develop her understanding of clinical epidemiology to continue to deliver high level support in performance health.

Crunkhorn noted “this scholarship will have a significant impact on my ability to study to progress my skills in this field, and also to be able to better contribute to leadership and performance health management across various sporting populations.

“I feel very honoured and privileged to be one of the recipients of this scholarship, as the cohort is made up of some very experienced physiotherapists in high performance, and I am really looking forward to working and learning with them.”

UCRISE Director and Professor of Sports Medicine, Gordon Waddington, said the AIS’s support for the MACE program only further legitimises the many benefits the course will provide to the elite high-performance system, adding “the announcement (of these) four new scholarships for students enrolled in the Master of Applied Clinical Epidemiology Sport program is a tremendous indication of the commitment of the AIS to the University of Canberra’s new industry partnership education initiative.

“All the students participating in the first year of the new degree are embedded in high level Australian sports programs and will be contributing to the success of Australia’s athletes at the Tokyo Games next year.”

The course aligns with the AIS Athlete Availability Program which aims to improve the health, training availability and performance outcomes of Australian athletes via a proactive, preventative healthcare model.

Image: AIS Chief Executive, Peter Conde and University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Professor Geoffrey Crisp at the recent agreement of the scholarship program.