By Declan Boffa
2017 was a jam-packed year for us here at Sports Medicine Australia (SMA). We held our position as the top national umbrella body for sports medicine and sports science and continued to strengthen our ties with BJSM as a member society. Here’s a summary of our year as well as what we’re looking forward to in 2018!
SMA is known as the world’s leading multi-disciplinary sports medicine body. With more than 5,000 members and 20,000 sports trainers, we educate professionals and the sports-minded community members and assist all active people to achieve optimal benefits from their exercise, activity and competition. SMA aims to be the top body in Australia for the prevention of obesity and lifestyle diseases associated with inactivity, promotion of well-being & optimal health through safe physical activity, and medicine and science in physical activity, sport and active recreation.
SMA draws together all sports medicine, sports science and healthcare professionals. These groups include: orthopaedic surgeons, physicians, doctors, physiotherapists, population health specialists, exercise physiologists, dietitians, academics, sports scientists, optometrists, dentists, podiatrists, psychologists, nurses, teachers and chiropractors. Our 5,000 members are a mix of professional members from the above categories, sports trainer members working in local sport, student members currently studying to join the field of sports medicine at university, sporting clubs and corporate organisations.
SMA Offerings: courses, events and more – check out our calendar!
At the sport trainer level, our safer sport programme has a variety of courses across our state offices, including the Level 1 Sports Trainer course, First Aid courses, CPR courses and Concussion management courses, just to name a few. We are the preeminent organisation for volunteers looking to work as a sports trainer and our extensive network of sports coverage handles sporting events in Australia.
Our members and sports medicine professionals across the country really take advantage of our Professional Development (PD) calendar events (all BJSM Approved of course!). 2017 was spearheaded by our annual SMA Conference, held in the picturesque Langkawi, Malaysia. An outstanding line up of guest speakers covered key and contemporary topics across all areas of sports medicine. We also saw seminars on Inspiring Women in Sport in the Northern Territory, the High Performance for Community Sport Conference in the ACT and the Hamstring Symposium & Adolescent Athletes Symposium in Victoria. It was another busy year providing our members with the highest quality PD events in Australia.
On top of this, we are excited to be the sole safer sport provider for the National Rugby League and have signed a partnership with the Australian Football League as the preferred Emergency Response Coordinator course provider. We have also partnered with the New South Wales State government for new concussion guidelines and a series of concussion workshops that will commence in 2018.
SMA is proud to be a BJSM Member Society in 2018, and beyond. Our subscription is an integral benefit for all our members, naturally complementing our own Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (JSAMS). Each year, SMA features on the cover of a BJSM issue, promoting our annual conference (in 2018 it’ll be in Perth!). Alongside this, SMA links top sports medicine professionals to the BJSM podcast series, allowing them to discuss their research in a fun, informal setting with the ever-growing BJSM social reach!
Find our more about us on our website! View our extensive PD calendar – see what’s locked in for 2018! Check out our Sports Health magazine and learn more about our safer sport program! We strive to be a thought leader in sports medicine, safety and injury prevention in sport & physical activity and we’re excited continue our partnership with BJSM.
Declan Boffa – SMA National Communications Coordinator
