There are so many layers to the culture and history in Italy – almost like lasagna.
Three Heidelberg students – sophomore Morgan Bingham and juniors Naomi Smith and Megan Brugnone – found that to be the case when they traveled there as part of the Institute for Collegiate Sports Medicine’s Athletic Training International Experience during spring break earlier this month. The program is operated through Florida Southern University.
The timing of the trip was key for the athletic training majors. “There are not so many opportunities for us to study abroad because of our clinical hours, so it was great to have this opportunity,” Morgan said.
The ‘Berg trio was among 40 students who spent nine days, touring such sites as the Roman Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Pantheon, St. Peter’s Basilica and Morgan’s favorite, the Stadium in Pompeii.
The tourist activities were intermingled with visits to museums and universities centered around medicine, she explained. For example, the group visited the Museum of the History of Medicine and the Foro Italico (formerly the University Institute of Motor Sciences) at the University of Rome and the National Historic Museum of Healthcare Art.
The students, hailing from colleges and universities, large and small, all across the United States, also visited a Florence and/or Rome Soccer Club facility, where they had a presentation by a member of the sports medicine staff there.
“The athletic trainer at the soccer facility shared his day to day activities and his career and education path to his job,” Morgan said. “It was cool to see that athletic training was his path and to hear his point of view.”
During the museum tours, Morgan was impressed by seeing the evolution of instruments such as tweezers, blood pressure cuffs and stethoscopes, and their differences and similarities through time.