{"id":9393,"date":"2020-08-22T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/?p=9393"},"modified":"2020-08-25T22:53:46","modified_gmt":"2020-08-25T21:53:46","slug":"from-the-winter-youth-olympic-games-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2020\/08\/22\/from-the-winter-youth-olympic-games-to-the-coronavirus-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"My story: From the Winter Youth Olympic Games to the coronavirus pandemic. Marine Lecart"},"content":{"rendered":"
My<\/em> 6-month SEM placements around the world<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\n

I have always been a huge fan of sports and, as a teenager, was even one of the best ranked Belgian athletic runners. As a fifth-year medical student at the Universit\u00e9 Catholique de Louvain<\/em> (Brussels), I now aim to pursue a career in sport & exercise medicine (SEM). Unfortunately, a lot of countries still don’t offer SEM as a specialisation option. This is the case in Belgium, where another medical speciality is required before admission to SEM training. As a consequence, gaining SEM experience as a Belgian medical student is quite difficult and going abroad is probably the best option to do so.<\/p>\n

The 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even if the SEM specialisation offered in Switzerland is similar to the Belgian one, the idea of spending time in a country internationally recognised for its high medical education standards was very exciting. With the help of Sport & Exercise Medicine Switzerland (SEMS, @SwissSportsMed<\/a>), I could organise a placement at the SEM Centre of the University Hospital Lausanne (CHUV) \u2026 and even work at the medical clinic of the Winter Youth Olympic Games 20201<\/sup>! Due to the size and importance of the YOG, I could not have been more thrilled to participate to this event. It was fascinating to be behind the scenes of such a significant and globally event. The part spent at the CHUV with Prof. Dr. Vincent Gremeaux (@drvgremeaux<\/a>) was also very enlightening. In the middle of the ski season, I saw a lot of patients with anterior cruciate ligament injuries and had the opportunity to attend several surgeries and rehabilitation sessions.<\/p>\n

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New Zealand and the coronavirus pandemic<\/strong><\/p>\n

Justin Carrard (@CarrardJustin<\/a>), my contact inside the SEMS, informed me that SEM was well developed in the UK, Australia and New Zealand especially. Therefore, I decided to pursue the rest of my six-month SEM experience in the Southern hemisphere. I was lucky enough to find a rugby team doctor in New Zealand, who agreed to have me on his team. Not only would have this opportunity helped me in gathering hands-on experience, but also in developing my medical English skills. Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic brought a premature end to this experience as soon as I landed in New Zealand. Nonetheless, I am not giving up on my dream to following a sports team one day.<\/p>\n

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My personal take home message<\/strong><\/p>\n

What makes a good sports doctor:<\/p>\n