June 27, 2021

SLU AT Student Learns New Skills in Regenerative Therapy at Bluetail Medical Group


SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Bluetail Medical Group
By: Amra Kardasevic (MAT Class of 2022)

I am currently in the middle of my summer field experience at Bluetail Medical Group and I am loving it! My preceptor, Devon Guckes, ATC, works an athletic trainer with physician Matthew Bayes MD. Dr. Bayes specializes in sports medicine injuries and non-operative treatments including regenerative therapies. He utilizes ultrasound to guide his treatments and aid in confirming diagnoses. 

Devon’s role consists of performing initial evaluations on new patients, doing follow-up interviews on patients that have been recently treated, preparing equipment for procedures and injections, and many other things. The regenerative treatments that they do are mostly for patients with arthritis. The stem cells help to regenerate cartilage and give those people around 5-7 years of relief before it starts deteriorating again. They are also used for muscle tears and partial ligament and tendon tears, to help rebuild them more quickly and decrease the chance of reinjury. It has been very cool to see patients come back for a follow up and be doing a lot better because of these treatments.

This summer at Bluetail I have had the opportunity to see patients and complete their history and evaluations on my own. After doing this, I am able to go in with Dr. Bayes and assist with the ultrasound and observe him doing his evaluation and giving recommendations for treatment. I have also been able to assist him with some procedures and injections, which has been a very unique experience that I have not gotten to have before. We have seen patients with lots of different musculoskeletal injuries, along with a good amount of concussions so I am getting a lot of exposure to pretty much everything. It is also a different patient population than I am used to, with a wide range of ages and activity levels that we see.

I am really enjoying my time at Bluetail and am learning so much from Devon and Dr. Bayes and his medical assistant. Everyone is very dedicated to giving their patients the best care possible which is very refreshing to see. I am enjoying the clinical setting because I like seeing how helping manage other medical conditions can also help with musculoskeletal injuries. 

I am looking forward to continuing my experience and everything that I will learn in the upcoming weeks!

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program have an immersive field experience in the summer between their two professional years in the program. This blog post details a student's reflection on their experience.

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