West Campus Sports Council member
Michael Hoiles adjusts a member of the
San Jose State University rugby club
during a recent game. |
The West Campus Sports Council
has ventured into a partnership with
the San Jose State University (SJSU)
Spartans rugby club, marking the
first time in its 17-year history that
the Council will provide continuous
care for a team for a whole season.
“As opposed to our usual one-day
events, we will now have the chance to
work with the athletes for the entire
season,” says past Sports Council president
Adam Meisenhelder, who was
instrumental in forging the relationship
with the SJSU rugby club. “This represents
a more ‘real-world’ patient management
experience for our interns.”
The Sports Council will provide care
for the Spartans at practices and homegames
throughout the rugby season,
which runs from January through
April. The primary field clinicians
are West Campus alumni Drs. Daniel
Lord, ’08; Kily Tracy, ’93; and Jonathan
Slater, ’97.
Dr. Slater sees real benefit in the
Council’s extended commitment.
“When you see players at practice and
games during the course of a season,
you develop a rapport, establish a
consistency in care, and monitor the
progress, which enables you to better
assess the outcomes.”
Phil “Rolo” Toste, former Spartan
rugby player and SJSU rugby coach
for 20 years, says, “We’ve never
had anything like this before. It’s an
enormous comfort to have skilled
healthcare personnel available to
assess our injured players, and,
equally important, to provide preand
post-game care that helps to
reduce the risk of injury.”