SASMA's Professional Development Scholarship Winner: Amy Hobbs
September 4,
2019 1325 1325 
SASMA is committed to providing members with meaningful professional development (PD) opportunities to advance the specialised skills and understandings required for a career in Allied Health. It was with this in mind that SASMA offered scholarship opportunities for students and recent graduates to attend Professional Development sessions such as seminars, workshops or conferences that focus on developing their knowledge and skills further.
Our two scholarship winners for 2019 were Amy Hobbs and Tom Lancaster who were both University of South Australia students graduating in 2018 in Bachelors of Exercise/Sport Science and Physio respectively.
SASMA will be running this scholarship program again in 2020 and would encourage all students and recent graduates to apply!
Hear from Amy Hobbs and her chosen Professional Development Session:
I recently completed my Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of South Australia due to a keen interest in health, wellbeing and physical activity. During my final year of Uni, I was placed at North Adelaide Football Club with the senior squad as a sports trainer for a short (30hour) placement opportunity. Throughout this particular Uni subject, and my time within the medical team at NAFC, I learnt a number of strapping techniques, developed my first aid skills and knowledge, and some injury management and rehabilitation processes. Following my placement hours, I successfully applied with SASMA to become a Level 1 Sports Trainer and continued on with NAFC as a volunteer for the remainder of the 2018 season, where both teams won their Grand Finals.
When the 2019 pre-season rolled around in November, I decided to return, and experienced a whole new side to this sport. As football is a winter sport, much of what I had experienced was cold weather, wind, rain and hail, and most of the trainings were skills based. Pre-season, with our players working towards increasing their fitness levels, on days that reached 46o had the medical staff preventing, preparing for, and treating heat exhaustion.
In March 2019, I had the opportunity to apply for a Personal Development Scholarship with SASMA. My application was successful, and allowed me to enrol into the June/July Level 2 Sports Trainer course that I had been hoping to complete for a number of months. This course covered topics including management of concussion, serious wounds, suspected spinal injuries and advanced taping. I thoroughly enjoyed this session and found the taping component of this course most useful and practical. It was great to have such a large portion of the course allocated to such pivotal part of my role as a sports trainer; and hearing different techniques from such an experienced health professional was incredibly beneficial. I have also already found the wound management component incredibly helpful in greatly improving my confidence with independently providing the first aid situations I have come across on game days. I am already looking forward to putting more of what I have learnt into practice, and continuing my learning and development in this field.