Professor Nicola Maffulli, Centre Lead, QMUL Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine (CSEM), has launched a programme of events in association with DJO Education that aims to provide senior UK and overseas SEM practitioners, including Fellows and Members of the UK and Irish Faculties of Sport and Exercise Medicine, with a unique forum of high level, interactive interdisciplinary meetings.
Professor Maffulli states: “It is vital to have greater interaction between the different branches of SEM and senior practitioners forming the teams supporting elite athletes. This series will provide events that meet the CME needs of these senior practitioners.” He adds: “These events will be delivered as a series of quarterly meetings, each of which will be limited to 50 attendees, have interdisciplinary presentations, and be accredited for CPD by the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine via the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The input of experts from different SEM backgrounds will add to the balance and educational value of each meeting.”
The inaugural meeting was held on 11th December 2009 and attracted an international group of 50 leading SEM Practitioners. Held at the Royal Society of Medicine's Chandos House, the meeting tackled Hamstring Injuries in the morning and Hip Pathology in the afternoon. Following Professor Maffulli's welcome, the first of the five speakers on Hamstring Injuries was the distinguished Senior Lecturer and Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Mr John King, founder of London's CSEM and Past Chairman of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine (BASEM). He presented on 'Hamstring problems: setting the scene'. Following this were presentations from Consultant Radiologist, Dr Otto Chan: 'Advanced Imaging and Image guided techniques in hamstring injuries', Dr Wayne Diesel, Physiotherapist and Head of Medical Services at Tottenham Hotspur: 'The view from the bench: a practical approach to hamstring injuries', Dr Dylan Morrissey, Senior Clinical Lecturer and Consultant Physiotherapist at QMUL: 'Muscle injury of the hamstrings and high density surface electromyography - what new information could we learn?' and Dr Rob Chakraverty, UK Athletics Team Doctor: 'State of the art in Injection Therapies for Hamstring Injuries'.
The afternoon session started with a presentation 'Arthroscopic Management of Hip Problems' from the eminent hip surgeon, Mr Richard Villar. Following this were presentations by Dr David Elias, Consultant Radiologist, King's College Hospital: 'Recent developments in hip injury imaging in athletes', Mr Vikas Khanduja, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Nuffield Health Cambridge Hospital and Professor Ernest Schilders, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Bradford Teaching Hospitals/ Leeds Metropolitan University: 'Femoroacetabular Impingement - An Overview', Mr Oreste Basso, sports surgeon: 'Resurfacing - the future' and Professor Ernest Schilders: 'Rehabilitation following hip arthroscopy: horses for courses'.
Both morning and afternoon sessions ended with lively thirty minute question sessions.
This first meeting was positively received. Mr Neil Black, UKA Lead – Sports Medicine & Science, said: “The morning session's speakers brought the audience rapidly up to date with the most recent thoughts regarding functional contribution, classification, treatment and rehabilitation techniques highlighting the challenge of evidence based versus experiential learning. The thought that we may soon be able to understand more clearly the functional contribution of different parts of the hamstring muscle to a movement pattern, to clearly understand the key components guiding the most complete and speedy recovery process and therefore to create bespoke evidence based treatment and rehabilitation interventions is very exciting.”
Dr Mukul Agarwal, Sports & Musculoskeletal Physician at Blackheath Hospital and BUPA Wellness, commented: “An event at this level has been long overdue and it's good to see that there are so many SEM practitioners working at a high enough level to get a room full of people to have this kind of meeting - it wouldn't have happened a few years ago. The quality of face to face communication in a room with a lot of thoughts can't be replicated online, and this first meeting has taken topics and quality of discussion to a new place – I think the format of short sharp talks and discussion time really works.”
Dr Nick Webborn, CMO for Paralympics GB, added: “The standard of speakers was excellent and addressed the issues that we all face at a practical level but also discussed the future potential for enhancing our understanding and improving of the management of these injuries. Without doubt, this is an ideal forum for SEM practitioners to get together and debate these issues. A series at this level is a 'must do' for all SEM practitioners CPD.”
Mr John Hardy, Consultant Surgeon in Orthopaedics and Trauma in the UK, said that the value of “Sport and Exercise Medicine for London 2012” was that the curriculum was obviously attracting professionals in the management of sports related pathology from all over the UK and overseas into London where there was an inevitable sharing of the best in evidenced based medicine and surgery. He said: “This is exactly the program we need to be able to offer the Olympic Competitors the best in health care in no fewer than two and a half years time.”
Bahamas-based sports & exercise medicine practitioner, Annabel Carter, welcomed the initiative: “Coming from afar, and working in relative isolation with respect to Sport and Exercise Medicine, I need to make sure that I attend meetings that are cutting edge, relevant and keep me in contact with my peers. I thoroughly enjoyed the inaugural meeting and would enthusiastically look to attend every meeting if it wasn't for the chasm of the Atlantic Ocean.”
The next meeting will take place on 19th March 2010 at Chandos House and will focus on Pre-participation Screening and Low Back Pain Management. Speakers will include Professor Giorgio Galanti from Florence, Dr Mike Loosemore, Southern Medical lead for the EIS and CMO for Team England at the Commonwealth Games, Dr Ian Beasley, Doctor for the Senior England Squad, Dr Bryan English, CMO Chelsea FC, Dr Len Shapiro, elite sports cardiologist, Dr Sanjay Sharma, CMO, London Marathon, Mr Craig Ranson, Senior Physiotherapist at UKA, Dr Colin Natali, Sports Surgeon, Dr David Perry, Consultant Rheumatologist and Lead Clinician at Barts and The London Centre for SEM (TBC), Mr Jonathan Betser, Consultant Sports Medicine Osteopath and Chairman of OSCA.
Programme and booking forms are available from Barry Hill at barryghill@hotmail.com
Subsequent 2010 meetings are scheduled for 18th June (Diabetes in the Athlete and Injury Surveillance in Olympic Sports) and 24th September (Tendinopathies).
