Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine is a branch of the medical profession which focuses on musculoskeletal diagnosis and treatment, prescribing exercise for recovery and team care.
It involves the medical care of injury and illness in sport. Solutions require accurate diagnoses, careful clinical examination and experience and knowledge of sport specific movement patterns.
Sports Medicine Physicians are the experts who have higher specialist training in sport and exercise medicine in the UK. Their expertise lies in dealing with injuries associated with sport and exercises. The UK Sports Institute trains doctors in sport and exercise medicine in their final year of learning.
Why is there Sports Medicine at the UK Sports Institute (UKSI)?
Sports medicine is particularly important at the UK Sports Institute because the best athletes in the world require the care of the most highly trained doctors.
The UK Sports Institute Medical Services team provide 24/7 support to the elite athletes they work with. This is vital because injuries usually get worse the longer they are left.
Our Sports Medicine Doctors
UK Sports Institute doctors are specialists on the General Medical Council (GMC) Sport and Exercise Medicine Register. The UK Sports Institute employ over 20 doctors, all of whom have great experience in elite sport from a wide variety of areas having in total attended more than 30 Olympics, Paralympics and Commonwealth Games.
Sports Physicians work best in multi-disciplinary teams which include physiotherapists and strength and conditioning coaches.
How does Sports Medicine have a performance impact?
Sports medicine impacts performance in numerous ways because it enhances athletic performance, assists the development of training programme, supports injury prevention and management and of course identifies and treats any underlying conditions that may be impairing sports performance.
UK Sports Institute doctors work hard to look at the causes behind all injuries and illnesses in athletes. With the UK Sports Institute multi-disciplinary teams, feedback evidence is provided to help inform sports on how best to reduce the days lost to training through injury and illness, this takes time and care in understanding training loads and factors which may make injury and illness more likely. More days spent training makes better athletes.
Every elite athlete understands the potential for injury is always present and the wisest step to take after the occurrence of an injury is to seek for the services of a sports medicine professional. Where appropriate the UK Sports Institute sports medicine physicians refer to experts outside the institute including orthopaedic surgeons, medical physicians and medical professionals in a network that we have taken years to develop, with people who understand the requirements of elite sport. We have built up links with some exceptional specialists across the full spectrum of healthcare in the UK.
To find out more, get in touch today.