Sports Medicine is an exciting specialty charged with the care of sick and injured athletes. This includes performance parameters. In many countries it has become an independent specialty with its own colleges and associations; nevertheless its charge crosses the disciplines of orthopaedics, rehabilitation medicine, nutrition, psychiatry, emergency medicine, paediatrics, geriatrics, gynaecology, dermatology and primary care. Perhaps this explains its appeal? It provides an opportunity to work with colleagues in an interdisciplinary way. Doctors can easily identify with their patients. Most are (or were) fit and highly motivated who want to get better (sometimes too soon). The benefits of regular exercise are now well established for all groups in the community including the young, old, disabled and the unwell. In some ways there is too much emphasis on sport with serious health problems, for example eating disorders, occurring in female athletes. We should never forget that we are primarily doctors and that may mean giving some unpopular advice to quit or delay sporting activity. This can best be done when armed with the facts. Everyone has their idols. In the USA it seems to be Hollywood superstars, in the UK the Aristocracy , with the Irish it is their writers and in the Antipodes it is our sporting heroes. For us it is our teachers (ES - Ronald Huckstep, Bruce Shepherd, Geoff Cocker). I (ES) learnt my craft as a general practitioner on the ski fields in the early 1980s where I treated over 10 000 skiing injuries before becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. SFW developed his interest in sports medicine after competing in dinghy and yachting regattas from teen years until the present and went on to train in sports medicine at the London Hospital before returning to Sydney to practise rehabilitation medicine. He has been an honorary medical officer for Athletics NSW and more recently developed an interest as a national classifier for Swimmers with Disabilities. He was appointed a member of the NSW Government Sporting Injuries Committee and continues to research with a current interest in head and neck injuries in sport. We are indebted to our contributors who bring their vast clinical experience and wisdom to this text (many of whom will be involved in the care of athletes in the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games); we are sure it will prove a useful practical guide to you as a medical student, primary care provider, sports medicine specialist, orthopaedic surgeon or rehabilitation physician.
A novel feature of this book is that the co-editors are available to answer your questions on Sports Medicine issues specifically related to this text by contacting us on our website, WorldOrtho (at http://www.worldortho.com). LT and SV have established this innovative website which is now the largest orthopaedic and sports medicine site on the internet. We invite you to visit us on the web and in person at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
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