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Q&A Dr Jonathan Hanson, consultant physician in sport and exercise medicine


• How did you first get involved in sport and exercise medicine? I was sporty at school and university but also worked as a lifeguard as a student – so I combined sport and medicine


from an early age. I did an intercalated degree as an undergraduate in Aberdeen on ACL deficient knees and MRI and was introduced to team work by my supervisor Dr Frank Smith – unusually a radiologist – but also the team doctor at Montrose Football Club. On my surgical rotation a very grumpy surgeon I worked for had a meltdown in theatre and advised me to get a job that lets me get outside. There and then I knew what I wanted to do and started shadowing other team doctors and volunteering for experience. One opportunity then led to another.


• What attracted you to the specialty? I saw it as a specialty that sits with a foot in specialism and generalism, and gives a way of staying close to the team environment as well as being something that would always have to change. I wouldn’t be “inside” the same building for the next 35 years of my career and there might be a chance to travel a bit and work with some amazing people. Basically I knew I would never be bored in SEM.


provides formal accreditation and is the national standard for doctors working across SEM. The British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM) defines a GP with a special interest in SEM as holding an NHS or equivalent post and often with considerable experience in sport medicine and a higher degree such as an MSc in SEM and/or the FSEM UK membership exam. All GPs can now apply for membership of


FSEM UK by taking parts 1 and 2 of the membership exam, which is recognised as a UK standard, aligned with what is expected of doctors in the field. Full or part-time jobs for GPs might involve


working in clinical exercise, health promotion or in sports science with national sporting bodies and professional clubs – or providing unpaid support for schools and at amateur sporting events.


Links For more information on careers in sport and excercise medicine check out: • British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine: www.basem.co.uk


• Faculty of SEM UK: www.fsem.ac.uk • NHS careers: tinyurl.com/y9sbb8qq


• What do you enjoy most about the job? The variety: I work in clinics and pitch-side and consult in a wide range of settings from hospitals to hotels. I need broad, excellent clinical and non-technical skills to cope with unusual situations for individuals with unusual demands of themselves. The workplace: I am surrounded by driven individuals who want to get better and challenge me to be the best I can be every day. The niche: seeing a patient respond to a doctor giving them even just some basic rehab advice for an injury.


• What do you find most challenging? The plate spinning. Most SEM doctors have portfolio careers with a few employers to keep happy. That’s a good thing for skill retention but you need understanding employers – let alone families.


• What has been your most memorable experience in SEM? For many years I was the team doctor for the British mountain running squad. The events would be unflashy long weekends to the mountains without any of the profile of some other World Championships – but the athletes were beasts and the racing was ridiculously tough and yet they were all completely down to earth people who just got on with it. I was there long enough to see some of the juniors come through to dominate the senior races. GB is a top nation in the world and some of the venues were remote and spectacular with extreme medical environments.


• What advice would you give to a trainee GP interested in pursuing a full or part-time career in SEM? I’d definitely have a fall-back and probably keep your regular clinical skills up through a portfolio career. So, complete training and get your exams in another specialty. There are many ways to have an influence and not everyone is desperate to do elite sport. Contributing to local PCT musculoskeletal models or exercise policy can be equally as rewarding for some. It is a specialty so you need to do the hours like anything else: shadow, volunteer, gain experience, ask lots of questions. Those of us within want new blood to take the specialty on.


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