University of Southampton - "Learn with us"

Schools from the south of England were invited to the University of Southampton for a “Learn with us – Yr8 taster day” on 21st and 28th January 2014. One hundred students aged 12-13 years old from the schools attended workshops run by participating faculties in the university to gain an insight into the work that is done at the university and inspire them for future careers .

The Faculty of Health Sciences ran one such workshop demonstrating their work in sport, exercise and osteoarthritis with live demonstrations of laboratory facilities and discussions of their work. The students experienced 3D motion analysis and how this is being used to assess the movement patterns of footballers with hip pain with Dr Martin Warner.

They also saw a live demonstration of rehabilitative ultrasound imaging with Prof Maria Stokes and Simon Brown and how this is used to gain an understanding of how muscles work, what happens when they contract and what happens to muscles as we age. They were given the message that exercise and strong muscles help protect the joints from arthritis and that even though muscles get smaller as we age, we can prevent them from becoming very wasted. Dr Jo Adams, Dr Cathy Bowen and PhD students Peter McQueen and Charlotte Dando demonstrated how osteoarthritis can affect the feet and hands and what happens when joints deteriorate over time leading to joint replacements. The students then were able to handle a replacement hip and finger joint, look at x rays and practice walking with crutches.