My name is Victoria Fauntroy and I am a rising
senior in the Athletic Training Education Program (ATEP). My project aims to
investigate the importance and effects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL)
in dancers. HRQoL focuses on the physical, psychological, and social effects on
a dancers’ well being. The purpose of this project is to 1) describe injury
rates in collegiate freshman dancers across one semester, 2) compare dancers’
HRQoL between the start [HRQoL-begin] and end [HRQoL-end] of the semester, and
3) examine if HRQoL can be a contributing factor to injury prevalence over a
semester. This project is important because there is little research
investigating HRQoL and the overall effect on a dancers’ comprehensive health.
I am passionate about this project as I have
been dancing for the past 15 years and am extremely interested in dance medicine
as a career. As a dancer, I saw my dance classmates suffer from injuries with
no healthcare professional to assist in care. Dance has always been an
important part of my life, and I feel dancers endure the same type and severity
of injuries as athletes but may not receive the same level of medical care. Therefore,
I came to George Mason University with the goal of one day being able to provide
adequate care for dancers and their injuries. While at GMU, I met Dr.
Ambegaonkar and Dr. Hansen-Honeycutt who have given me opportunities to work
with them on projects pertaining to dancers.
This term I have learned a great deal about
research, running statistical tests, and writing academic papers. I have also
learned the importance of physical, mental, and social health while dealing
with injuries. It has been a wonderful experience working with both of my
mentors and I hope to continue to learn and grow within my field.
