SPORTS MEDICINE CAREERS

BY LISA HODGSON, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF SPORTS CONSULTANCY COMPANY AND UNIVERSITY LECTURER

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this article is to raise awareness on what working in sport actually means. What it really entails, and what is required of you as a clinician working in or aspiring to work within sport, either at the amateur or elite levels. The glory and “street cred” that the role can bring sometimes overshadows what the reality is for the majority of people working in sports that are below the radar, which possibly don’t have any Heads of Sports Science or Medicine or the financial backing to provide a medical strategy for the future. So, do sports and governing bodies

actually know what they want? It’s a good question. Unfortunately sports medicine is sometimes viewed more as an expense that a particular sport doesn’t need, rather than an insurance policy that it actually does need. To use rugby

WORKING IN SPORT AND EXERCISE MEDICINE – BE PREPARED! PART 1

Do you want to work in sport and exercise medicine? Are you prepared for the role? Is it really the glamorous life you think it is? In this, the first of three articles, we aim to raise awareness about working in sport. What it actually entails, and what is required of you as a clinician at the amateur or elite levels. The next two articles in the series will focus on two particularly difficult conditions to face in the field – concussion and sudden cardiac death.

league terminology, the doctor and the physiotherapist are the 18th and 19th people on the team and are as integral to the team’s success as the 17 people taking part on a particular afternoon, whether they are training or competing. This article has come about because of the author’s experience of lecturing to a number of medicine and science students over a number of years, and their lack of understanding about what is required of someone who accepts a role within a sporting organisation at any level. It will probably be of most benefit to people who currently aspire to work within sport, and it may give a few pointers about what to look for when accepting such a role.

SETTING THE SCENE You love your profession. You are a good practitioner in your field of

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ARE YOU READY TO DISCHARGE THE ROLE

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