BSc Sports and Exercise Medicine

Programme organiser: Dr Dylan Morrissey

Sports and Exercise Medicine is a newly recognised speciality with the first UK training scheme recently set up in London. With an increasing interest in sports and leisure activities, together with the growing problem of obesity and chronic disease, the importance of treating injuries and preventing illness through exercise, is set to grow considerably. The growing health agenda focus on exercise medicine is reflected in the legacy aspects of the successful London 2012 bid.

The aim of this programme is to offer an innovative and exciting course in Sports & Exercise Medicine. This will include giving you the knowledge and skills to assess sports injuries and to understand their treatment options, as well as understanding the physiological and psychological benefits of exercise and its use as a health tool.

Lecturers will include sports physicians who are currently working with elite sport in this country and there will be a high clinical emphasis within lectures.

Your research project will be clinically relevant and forms half of the course assessment. Another key component of the course is therefore to give you the necessary knowledge and skills to execute this.

Semester A consists of the following taught modules:

Injuries and Medical Problems in Sport
Research Methods in Sport and Exercise Medicine

Semester B consists of the following taught modules:

Exercise as a Health Tool
Biomechanics and Rehabilitation

You will be introduced to the research projects from week 1 of the course, in order that you have plenty of time to plan and undertake a high quality project.

Please note, we encourage applicants from within QMUL but also other institutions at the end of their third or fourth years of MBBS study. We do not currently consider students at the end of their second year of the MBBS or BDS courses.

Structure and timing

Summary for 2011/12 with unit values and approx dates
1	Injuries and Medical Problems in Sport	1 unit	Autumn term
2	Research Methods in Sports and Exercise Medicine	1 unit	Autumn term
3	Exercise as a Health Tool	1 unit	Spring term
4	Biomechanics and rehabilitation	1 unit	Spring term
5	Project	4 units	Autumn & spring term

Summary of course units

Required Units

SM1. Injuries and Medical Problems in Sport

This module covers the principles of sports and exercise medicine. It aims to provide you with a unique understanding of the evolving role of the sports physician.

Through a series of interactive lectures and practical sessions, you will learn about the day to day injuries and medical problems encountered by doctors working within this speciality. You will develop your musculoskeletal examination skills, giving you the ability to diagnose a wide range of conditions.

Practising assessment skills on fellow students necessitates dressing suitably for practical sessions and the need to model and undress appropriately for your peers. If you have any concerns about this, e.g. for religious reasons, please contact the programme organiser to discuss the matter before applying.

SM2. Exercise as a Health Tool

As future doctors you will be seeing an increasing number of patients with obesity and chronic health problems; such as heart disease, diabetes and back pain. The pharmacological agents to treat these conditions are well established, but have recent decreases in activity levels contributed to their increased prevalence? Can exercise be used to reverse this trend?

This module will provide you with a unique opportunity to learn about the latest evidence linking exercise and health. You will learn how specific exercise prescriptions can be used to treat cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal and psychological conditions. The module will be taught through a series of lectures given by national experts.

This will be supplemented by a visit to a gym to see exercise prescriptions being carried out in practice, where you will plan and justify an exercise programme for a patient.

SM3. Research methods in Sports and Exercise Medicine

As an emerging specialty, the importance of research in relation to sports and exercise medicine is paramount. This module will give you an understanding of research process, from the initial idea, to its final presentation.

Through a series of lectures and interactive workshops you will learn how the different types of research relate to sports and exercise medicine, along with their advantages and disadvantages. Your preparation for each lecture will involve reading set texts and papers, which will give you the opportunity to become familiar with some research in this field. Discussion of what you have read will provide the basis for learning about how statistical data may be analysed and presented.

You will also learn about the practicalities of carrying out research, including how design a research proposal. By the end of this module you will have the skills to critique a research paper and understand its relevance to the practice of sports and exercise medicine.

SM4. Biomechanics and rehabilitation

In semester 1 you study injuries in relation to specific body regions (Injuries and Medical Problems In Sport module). Since many injuries develop from abnormal biomechanics, this module aims to give you an understanding of how the musculoskeletal system functions as a unit and how an abnormality in one area can lead to dysfunction in another.

This can then be related to the diagnosis and rehabilitation of injuries. Another aim is to show how the biomechanics of different sports predispose to different injuries. Finally, this module will introduce you to the principles of rehabilitation and how this relates to the issues of biomechanics and sports-specific function.

SM5. Project

This module will give you experience of the entire research process, in an area of sports medicine that is clinically relevant. Your project will contribute 50% to your final marks and you will therefore spend a significant amount of the year preparing it. It is expected that you will produce a piece of high quality research, that will be potentially publishable. Intercalating students have had increasingly high levels of success in publishing and presenting their work.

Though you will be given possible project ideas, you will be expected to take ownership of the project, with suitable guidance and supervision . You may initially work in groups, but will then be responsible for carrying out and writing up your own 'strand' of the research.

Part of the process of refining your project proposal will include producing an in depth systematic review of the relevant literature. Your project will be closely supervised by both your project supervisors and through group tutorials every week. These tutorials are designed to give you guidance and feedback on specific areas of the research process, as well as ensuring that your research progresses at the appropriate rate.

Considerable emphasis will be placed on presenting your research in a professional manner, which will include writing it up according to the British Journal of Sports Medicine guidelines, as well as giving an oral presentation.

Examples of previous student project titles and abstracts

Abstracts of articles accepted for publication in the British Journal of Sports Medicine

Previous student projects and abstracts

Course Handbook

Download the BSc Sport and Exercise Medicine course handbook

Contact the programme organisers

If you would like any further information see:
Sport and Exercise Medicine

Or contact Dr Dylan Morrissey,
Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine,
Mile End Hospital (Royal London),
Bancroft Road,
London,
E1 4DG

Course brochure