By Jonathan Attwood and medical students Antoni Krupa and Tom Hatfield
The opposition winger staggers to his feet following a heavy collision, and I suddenly feel out of my depth. As medical students, we’ve been taught how to treat asthma, examine a patient’s lungs, and even practiced how to manage a heart attack dozens of times, but I now realise I’ve never seen a concussion assessment, except on TV. In fact, I’m not even sure I could give a convincing definition of concussion. Now, judging by how the winger is starting to look dizzy, I can’t help but feel like the collision was serious. I exchange glances with my teammates, but they’re just as unsure as me. The player says he's ok and wants to play on. This wasn’t what I was expecting when I put my boots on…
Medical students are a sporty bunch, and despite growing awareness around concussion, lots of us have had an experience like this one, described by the Oxford University medics football team (a.k.a. “the snakes”). Fortunately, for the last three years, students at Oxford Medical School have been taught how to recognise and manage concussion in a new addition to their training.
One afternoon, we head to the Iffley Road Sports Centre (home of the famous 4-minute mile) for a concussion training course. The course combines small group discussions with a pitch-side simulation of scenarios just like the one above. We’re taught by a neurologist, a sports psychiatrist and a physiotherapist, demonstrating that brain health and brain injury encompass physical, mental, and emotional aspects that are rarely talked about.
Throughout the afternoon, we discuss brain health and brain injury together, using the benefits of physical activity on the brain to explain the risks of brain injury. We also have a Q&A with an athlete recently affected by concussion. In a non-judgemental space, their story helps to demystify and address issues commonly faced by athletes, such as balancing the desire to return to play with respecting the importance of rest and recovery.
This course has received positive feedback from students, who often highlight how they feel much more confident to apply what they have learned afterwards:
- "Really useful, practical information on a topic I knew very little about before but feel much more confident on after.”
- "Definitely would have helped me in sports situations in the past!”
- “Probably the best teaching I've had at medical school so far as useful for situations we'll find ourselves in in everyday life as well as in the hospital.”
Image by Yumu via Unsplash
In 2023, the UK government published concussion guidelines for anyone involved in grassroots sport. The core message, “If in doubt, sit them out”, has been promoted throughout amateur football and professional rugby, and the guidelines give a clear description of the signs and symptoms of concussion, as well as ‘red flag’ signs of more severe injuries and when to call an ambulance. Players and coaches are encouraged to be familiar with these guidelines, and there are free online courses provided by England Football Learning. In addition, courses like the one provided by Oxford Medical School help to ensure that as future doctors we stay up to date with these advances, and can treat a common and sometimes serious injury with greater speed and safety.
More recently, a group of us who completed the course decided to get more involved. We felt that concussion recognition was important for anyone regularly playing contact sports, and we wanted to share what we had learned more widely. We’ve worked with the creators of the course and the Concussion Legacy Foundation (a fantastic charity operating in this area) to develop a workshop that is suitable for anyone involved in sport. After weeks of brainstorming and perfecting, we’re now ready to go! With the support of Oxford University Sport, we’re looking forward to delivering the workshop to people involved in sport at university, college, and in the local community, helping them to get match-fit in terms of concussion awareness.
While “the snakes” could still do with some help on the pitch, it feels brilliant to be a part of the feed-forward cycle from medical education to public awareness and university outreach.