This interactive online course will help you understand, identify, and work with athletes who have exercise-induced asthma. Care and Treatment of Asthma in Athletes enhances your personal understanding of the pathology and basic mechanisms of asthma as well as prevention and control techniques.
The course was developed by Ricardo A. Tan, MD, and is one of the first new Internet courses offered through the PASS program. The new courses allow the convenience and multimedia presentation offered by the Internet.
The online study guide is not just printed material transferred into digital form. It is designed to present a meaningful opportunity to interact with the course subject matter in a way that facilitates learning.
Care and Treatment of Asthma in Athletes is problem centered. This method first identifies the principles necessary to solve common problems and then guides you through the process of learning how to apply these principles to solve a series of realistic problems. It's a powerful, effective way to learn.
You assume the role of a high school track team's athletic trainer and work with two virtual mentors: Dr. Gayle King, the team physician, and asthma specialist Dr. Phil Scott. This unique interactive approach guides you through the learning exercises and parallels what you'll encounter in actual settings.
During the course's six "days," you interact with clients in various real-life situations as your mentors guide you through various situations and exercises:
Day 1: Signs and Symptoms-You review information about track team members to determine if an athlete is exhibiting signs and symptoms of asthma, another respiratory condition, or normal post-exercise breathlessness.
Day 2: Responding to Asthma Attacks-You learn how to respond when an athlete not previously diagnosed with asthma appears to be experiencing an asthma attack. Dr. King reviews the symptoms of several student athletes and helps you anticipate how to react to an asthma attack.
Day 3: Patient Care-Dr. Scott describes procedures and testing that physicians use to confirm an asthma diagnosis. You learn about medications commonly used to treat asthma as well as their primary effects and side effects. Dr. Scott presents guidelines to manage the medications of affected athletes.
Day 4: Avoiding Triggers-Dr. Scott introduces several triggers of asthma attacks and discusses methods for helping athletes avoid these triggers.
Day 5: Selecting Sports and Preventing Attacks-Today you learn which sports or activities people with asthma tolerate best as well as general measures to assist athletes in avoiding asthma attacks during sports or athletic activity.
Day 6: Responding to Acute Attacks-Working with several athletes, you learn how to respond to acute asthma attacks occurring in the field. This final session pulls together the full range of course information.
Finally, an online test will evaluate your understanding of material covered by the entire interactive course.
System Requirements
This course is designed to work best when your computer and Internet browser are configured to the following technical requirements and setup specifications:
- Internet Explorer 5.5+ (Windows), Netscape Navigator 7.1+, Mozilla 1.7+, or Firefox 1.0+.
- Computer monitor preferences set for 640 X 480 resolution or larger.
- Adobe Flash Player version 5+. To download the free Flash Player, click on the button below.
- Browser pop-up blockers disabled.
Back to the Online Education Center