Since its inception in 2007, the Drum Corps International-sponsored Drum Corps Medical Project has succeeded in bringing together health care professionals from varied disciplines to provide medical guidance and hands-on assistance to corps members during the DCI Summer Tour.
With an initial focus on injury prevention and treatment, participation in the project has grown from a handful of volunteer contributors to an expansive network of practitioners throughout the United States. The program is now poised to serve an even greater audience of performing arts athletes, and is being re-launched today as the “Marching Music Health and Wellness Project (MMHWP).”
“Our primary mission is still to prevent injuries amongst participants in the marching arts,” said nurse practitioner Laura VanDoren, who has helped to chair the project since its start. “As we’ve continued to add more knowledge and expertise to the group, we’re now able to vastly expand the scope to include a wider spectrum of health and wellness issues facing performers across a number of disciplines.”
The primary goals of the MMHWP are:
- Improve access to targeted, appropriate care for participants in marching music ensembles
- Educate instructional staff, administrative staff, volunteers and participants in areas of injury prevention and recognition, while also helping to facilitate management of common injuries and illnesses across all areas of the marching arts
- Engage in collaborative research with other professional medical organizations to promote injury prevention and management strategies specific to the unique needs of the marching music performer
The MMHWP is actively recruiting physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, physical therapists, dentists, psychologists, paramedics/EMTs, nutritionists, pharmacists, chiropractors and other health and wellness professionals.