Scrums and concussions all around!

Alright team, the votes are in and we've officially decided that rugby needs to gain some serious popularity in the States. After spending most of the day with Johan Steyl, an extremely wise anatomy lecturer and cadaver technician at UFS (I saw more than my fair share of cadavers and freaky pathology cases today), this evening was spent at our first rugby match. We got to shadow Dr. Jansen, one of the UFS sports doctors, and finally watch the game we’ve been hearing so much about. We only saw a concussion in which the player suffered periodic short-term memory loss, but I had to realize it was good more injuries did not occur even though I wanted to see more action. I vow to pay more attention to Appalachian State’s rugby teams this year!
 

Tonight's rugby game (note the
PT treating an athlete on the sidelines)

It is probably too soon to say, but I may enjoy it more than American football. Sorry Dad and the Dallas Cowboys… When a player is tackled (and yes, that is tackled wearing no pads or helmet), the clock does not stop. The game continues without the constant ‘stop-and-go’ of football, as well as being much faster paced. And I’m saying all of this after only having watched the university’s minor team play. We are excited to see the varsity team play Saturday. Long story short, I can see what all the hype is about.

Monday was spent with Dr. Mathys Labuschagne, the head of the Simulation Unit at UFS and a practicing ophthalmologist. He was gracious enough to show us around all day, which included a visit to a paramedic simulation training assessment (made me think of my EMT/firefighting sister), the National District Hospital (state hospital in Bloem), and the UFS anatomy museum; we even got to sit in on one of Dr. Labuschagne’s lectures on ocular tumors. It was humorous that he seemed to spend the day showing Eric and me why we should pursue ophthalmology instead of sports medicine. Although it was an interesting wealth of information, I think I’ll stick with physical therapy or fisioterapeut.