Sports medicine is defined as a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. It includes injury prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation; performance enhancement through training, nutrition and psychology; management of medical problems; and exercise prescription in health and in chronic disease states. It also caters to the specific needs of exercising in children, females, older people and those with permanent disabilities. During sports events, it also handles the medical care of sporting teams and events; medical care in situations of altered physiology (such as at altitude or at depth), and also ethical issues (in the cases, for example, of the problem of drug abuse in sport). Its function is not only curative and rehabilitative, but also preventative, which may actually be the most important one of all. Sports medicine is not a single specialty, but an area that involves health care professionals, researchers and educators from a wide variety of disciplines.
The most appropriate sports medicine team depends on the setting. They are recommended to go through first aid training to get first aid certification. The sports medicine team consists primarily of the following: the physician, the paramedics, the nurses and the trainers. In an isolated rural community, the sports medicine team may consist of a family physician or a physiotherapist/physical therapist alone. In a populous area, the team may consist of the following: a family physician; physiotherapist/ physical therapist; sports physician; massage therapist; orthopedic surgeon; radiologist; podiatrist; dietitian/nutritionist; psychologist; sports trainer/athletic trainer; other professionals such as osteopaths, chiropractors, exercise physiologists, biomechanists, nurses, occupational therapists, orthotists, optometrists; coach; and fitness adviser.
The traditional sports medical model has the physician as the primary contact practitioner with subsequent referral to other medical and paramedical practitioners. But there’s a new sports medicine model and it is quite different. The athlete’s primary medical contact is preferably with a physician. But in most cases, it is also likely that the athlete approaches his/ her trainer, or in other instances, they even go directly to a physiotherapist/ physical therapist or massage therapist. Athletes usually approach the practitioner to whom they have the best relationship with or whoever is most accessible, when it comes to presenting their injury or ill condition. Therefore, it is essential that all practitioners in the sports medicine team understand their own strengths and limitations and are aware of which other practitioners can offer the required skills for the best management of the patient. If a patient is not responding to a particular treatment regimen, it is necessary to reassess the situation, reconsider the diagnosis and consider alternative methods of treatment. This may require referral to another member of the sports medicine team.
The members in the sports medicine team have each developed skills in a particular area of sports medicine. There may also be a considerable amount of overlap between the different practitioners. Practitioners should be encouraged to increase their knowledge and skills in areas other than the one in which they received their basic training. This “mulktiskilling” is particularly important if the practitioner is geographically isolated or is travelling with sporting teams.
Online References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_medicine&ei=TL2NUc70HcPWrQeIyYHgBg&usg=AFQjCNHTGX53tY03KSX0Yd4grQIqwfE19A&sig2=DnJk3dyzvI_ztzPCeUrqmQ&bvm=bv.46340616,d.bmk
http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/sports_medicine.htm