Physiotherapy at UTS is on the brink of a major transformation.
Physiotherapy at UTS will soon be transformed as the research laboratories and teaching facilities, currently located across the City campus, are brought together under one roof. But not just any old roof. From November 2017, they will find a home in UTS’s brand-new, purpose-built sport, education and research hub at Moore Park.
The Rugby Australia Building (RAB) is the first of its kind in Australia to embed university programs with major sporting venues and is the result of a partnership between UTS, Rugby Australia and the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust (SCG Trust). As well as physiotherapy, the building will house the Faculty of Health’s sport and exercise science, and management, courses.The integration of science and sport is designed to be mutually beneficial, giving UTS hands-on access to elite athletes – and providing Rugby Australia with access to performance, injury-prevention and rehabilitation data.
Head of UTS Graduate School of Health, Professor Charlie Benrimoj, has staunchly supported the development of the facility and says the advantages for the School are unprecedented. “Having world-class teaching and research facilities located right in the middle of a premier sporting precinct will allow physiotherapy staff and students to undertake high-impact research, and facilitate quality teaching with an emphasis on real-world clinical practice. Not only will students who’ve learned in this environment be highly regarded by prospective employers, but the facilities will also support staff to undertake excellent collaborative research,” he says.
His sentiment is echoed by Head of Discipline for Physiotherapy, Dr Michael Lee, who says this facility provides a phenomenal opportunity for students and researchers. “Physiotherapy will occupy half the second floor of the building which will not only give students and researchers effortless access to the physiotherapy research laboratories, but will provide easy access to the other state-of-the-art sporting facilities and purpose-built teaching spaces in the building too."
Ultimately, this facility forms a natural marriage of professions and underpins our aim to create the next generation of physiotherapists to be world-class critical thinkers.
Dr Michael Lee, Acting Head of Physiotherapy, Graduate School of Health
The physiotherapy facilities include a Clinical Neurostimulation Lab, which houses state-of-the-art trancranial magnetic stimulation systems. These systems enable researchers to study brain plasticity in healthy people as well as patients with neurological diseases. In addition, UTS Physiotherapy is the only tertiary institution in Australia to possess the Tyromotion rehabilitation suite, a specialised robotic device that uses gaming systems to assist patients with neurological problems to regain better function. The Tyromotion system has been used extensively in stroke rehabilitation world-wide.
There is also the Falls and Balance Research Lab; the Back Pain Research Lab; and the “super gym”, specially designed as both an educational facility and a place to conduct exercise-based studies. But, in addition to the top-notch facilities, Lee says one of the most exciting aspects of the new facility are the, as yet unknown, collaborations that will blossom because of the sheer breadth of complementary disciplines at home in the building.
“With neighbours including sports scientists from our Faculty of Health and elite athletes there will inevitably be opportunities for informal cross-disciplinary discussions that could lead to interesting collaborations in terms of sports injury prevention, sports rehabilitation and sport injury management,” Lee says.
“Ultimately, this facility forms a natural marriage of professions and underpins our aim to create the next generation of physiotherapists to be world-class critical thinkers.”
