The Cross Bracing Protocol - Practical Workshop

Cross Bracing Protocol (CBP): A Paradigm Shift in ACL Management

Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries remain one of the most common and debilitating challenges in sports medicine. Traditionally, a ruptured ACL has meant an almost certain trip to the operating room for surgical reconstruction. However, a new non-surgical alternative—the Cross Bracing Protocol (CBP)—is rapidly gaining international attention.

The Cross Bracing Protocol - Practical Workshop

The Cross Bracing Protocol (CBP) training workshop for physiotherapists is the only course written and presented by the authors of the published CBP case series and ongoing randomised controlled trial (RCT). The program includes three comprehensive online theory modules as a prerequisite to a 1.5-day practical workshop.

 Faculty & Content

•  Dr Tom Cross, Sports Medicine Physician – Co-developer of CBP with orthopaedic surgeon Mr Mervyn Cross. Dr Cross outlines the evolution of CBP, current protocols, ACL injury classification, the ACL healing spectrum, patient inclusion and exclusion criteria, and other medical considerations relevant to physiotherapists.

• Associate Professor Stephanie Filbay, NHMRC & Principal Research Fellow, University of Melbourne – A leading researcher in ACL injury management and outcomes. She leads the RCT comparing CBP to ACL surgery and presents the research evidence on ACL healing, published case series results, and shared decision-making outcomes in ACL management across Australia.

• Associate Professor Jane Rooney, Specialist Sports Physiotherapist (knee subspecialty) – With extensive clinical experience in both operative and non-operative ACL rehabilitation, Jane co-designed the CBP rehabilitation protocol for the RCT and has co-managed CBP patients with Dr Cross since 2020. Her online module covers ACL injury consequences, impairment assessment, shared decision making in practice, and rehabilitation phases through to return-to-sport and prevention programs.

Practical Workshop Focus (12h) 

The hands-on component, written by Associate Professor Rooney, provides physiotherapists with the skills to:

• Conduct acute knee assessments

• Apply practical shared decision making in ACL management

• Fit and manage CBP braces

• Guide rehabilitation through all CBP stages

• Integrate contemporary, evidence-based ACL rehab strategies from brace removal through return-to-sport

Course Hours: 17.5 hours total (5.5 hours online, 12 hours practical workshop)

This workshop is more than just a training session—it’s a game-changer. The Cross Bracing Protocol is not simply another rehabilitation tool; it represents a paradigm shift in how we understand and manage ACL healing. For professionals in rehabilitation, sports medicine, or orthopaedics, this course comes highly recommended. It equips you with the knowledge, practical skills, and confidence to offer a truly innovative, evidence-informed, non-operative option to the right patients. 

Learning Outcomes

• Understand contemporary research evidence for ACL injury consequences and management options including research evidence of ACL healing

• Understand the evolution of the Cross Bracing Protocol, medical considerations , and appropriate patient selection

• Understand ACL injury shared decision-making in clinical practice

• Practice advanced practical skills of assessment to differentially diagnose presenting sporting knee conditions

• Practice brace fitting and brace angle changes using variety of possible knee braces

• Learn and practice evidence informed rehabilitation during the Cross Bracing Protocol

• Understand common issues and appropriate impairment assessment both during the bracing and brace removal phases

• Understand and practice criteria based, acute, intermediate and late-stage ACL rehabilitation stages using a range of assessment and intervention domains including using VALD medical technology

• Understand and Practice criteria-based return to sport testing post ACL injury

The Cross Bracing Protocol Physiotherapy Training Workshop

Day 1 (1.00 – 5.00 pm) Saturday 15th of November 2025

Day 2  (8.00 am – 4.30 pm) Sunday 15th November 2025

About Jane Rooney

Associate Professor Jane Rooney, FACP is a Specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist (subspecialty knee) (as awarded by the Australian College of Physiotherapists in 2009)  and a Titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist.  

Jane has a particular interest in ACL injury management. She was awarded a prestigious Churchill Fellowship in 2016 to investigate management algorithms and non-operative management strategies for ACL injury, travelling to Europe, Scandinavia and America. This inspired a research project conducted with Dr Stephanie Filbay and team examining treatment decision making for ACL rupture from the perspective of physiotherapists and patients in Australia, in Print in Physical Therapy. The results informed a free online patient decision aid for shared decision-making following ACL injury.

 Jane has been implementing the Cross Bracing protocol since 2019 and is a co-author of the published Cross Bracing case series in BSJM, 2023. She is also a co-author and the rehab protocol designer for both arms of the forthcoming multicenter RCT comparing Cross Bracing to ACL reconstruction for ACL injury management. 

Jane works as a clinician at Prahran Sports Medicine Centre, a large multi-disciplinary sports clinic, collaborating closely with many of Melbourne’s leading knee surgeons and sports physicians. working with athletes of all abilities from recreational to professional.

Venue: Pure Sports Medicine - Canary Wharf

Level 2

https://puresportsmed.com/locations/