Working with Sunset Events

Interview with Dr Deb Nook from the School of Chiropractic and Sports Science regarding Chiropractic students involvement in providing treatment at Sunset Events music festivals.

The 4th/ 5th Year Chiropractic students have been honing their practical skills on patients who have been in attendance at three local music festivals in 2011 – South Bound Festival in Busselton, the Fremantle Blues and Roots Festival, and the Bunbury Groovin' the Moo Festival.

Graeme Loton (Chiropractor) from the Australind Chiropractic Clinic, who assisted as a Clinical Supervisor for the Groovin' the Moo Festival said this about the Murdoch Chiropractic students:

"I would like to congratulate the students who participated in the Groovin' the Moo festival on the weekend. Their level of professionalism and work ethic was to be commended and I was particularly impressed with their communication skills in explaining to their patients the procedures and after treatment care. They will be a great asset to our profession."

1. How did Murdoch University Chiropractic students become involved in these festivals ?
Sunset Events is the major event organiser for some of WA's major music festivals: the three day South Bound Festival in Busselton, the Fremantle Blues and Roots Festival and the Bunbury Groovin' the Moo Festival.
In 2009 Sunset Events contacted Murdoch University and opened up the opportunity for Murdoch University students from any school on campus to be involved in the South Bound Festival. So the School of Chiropractic & Sports Science decided to become involved and was 1 of only 2 Schools on campus to take up the offer.

The South Bound Festival in 2009 in Busselton was the start. Because of the great organisational skills demonstrated by the students and the volume of patients that were treated at South Bound in 2009, the next offer provided by Sunset Events was the Blues and Roots Festival in 2010 and finally Groovin' the Moo Festival in 2011.
The opportunity for the students to provide treatment for some of the big name musicians like Elvis Costello is a real feather in their cap. In saying that, the students professionalism with these musicians has been excellent. The students have demonstrated over the last three years that they are reliable, professional, organised and are able to provide an excellent service. Now the musicians and event staff look out for the Chiropractic students and have really taken hold of the idea of this service being provided by the Chiropractic students at these events.

Prior to being involved in the music festivals the Public Awareness Committee had facilitated the Chiropractic students being involved in treating people at major sporting events for the previous 5 years; events like the Tom Hoad Water Polo Championships, Pro- Surfing competitions and the State Touch Rugby Carnival. These major WA sporting events had given the students and organisers the opportunity to gain valuable experience in treating patients at a major event.

2. Did the students nominate themselves to volunteer their time to provide treatment at the festivals or were they approached?
Once a decision has been made by the PAC to attend an event to provide the chiropractic treatment services then students are asked to sign themselves up to attend.
They pay a bond on registering themselves which is returned to them when they have fulfilled all their responsibilities with the event.
Then the clinicians are approached to supervise the students in the provision of the chiropractic service at the event as the students can’t perform any treatments without a registered clinician being in attendance. We generally have a ratio of 1 clinician to 3 students.
Both the students and the clinicians have a professional uniform to wear so that they are easily identifiable at the events.
The music festivals have become very popular with the students who now wait for the event registration sheets to go up because the hours that they spend treating patients at the festival are put towards the compulsory clinical practicum hours they must complete for their qualification.

3. What were the approximate number of clients treated over the two festival events?
Up to 150 patients were treated per event with some students treating 10 - 12 per shift which is phenomenal. Each consult can be up to an hour. The consultation consists of pre-assessment exam, taking patient history, any specific exams, the student discusses with the clinicians, the case presentation and the treatment options. They then treat the patient and discuss with the patient continuation of care. It is a great experience for the students.

4. Why was chiropractic treatment only made available to event staff & musicians performing on the day at these events ?
The number of patients that can be treated is limited by the number of clinicians and space available, which means we need to limit the people who can be treated on any one day. Currently, we are available for treatment to event staff and musicians performing at the music festivals only.

5. What do the students get out of volunteering to be involved in the treatment of clients at events like these?
They get to treat a variety of conditions that they don’t see in the student clinic on campus and it’s in a fun atmosphere.
They get to interact with a variety of people of different age ranges too - different to those that attend the student clinic. They treat a variety of cases and so by the end they have increased their skills and efficiency.

6. What other events are coming up in the near future for the Murdoch Chiropractic students to be involved in, in a similar way?
For 2011, a group of students and graduates will be treating patients at the Mr Price Pro Surfing event in South Africa in June, in June/ July the 4th year students will be treating patients in chiropractic clinics in the North West, in August students will be providing treatment at the University games being held at the Gold Coast, we will have students treating at the Tom Hoad Water Polo event in December and also in December the 4th year students are going to India to provide chiropractic treatment services.