Medical specialties
Sport and Exercise Medicine Diploma
Register interest
A physician-led diploma in sport and exercise medicine: the medical care of people who train and compete, from the pre-participation evaluation and the athlete's heart to injury, concussion, pitchside emergencies and the medical problems that affect health and performance.
Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules cover the foundations of the specialty and exercise as medicine, musculoskeletal sports medicine, head injury and pitchside care, medical problems in the athlete, and special populations and the team physician, taught live by practising specialists you can question. It teaches when to refer for a surgical opinion, not how to operate.
- Course director
- To be announced
- Format
- 25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
- Fee
- £1,200 (scholarships available)
- Dates
- Confirmed when enrolment opens
Who it is for
GPs, emergency medicine and rehabilitation doctors, trainees in sport and exercise medicine, and doctors who look after clubs, schools or events, worldwide.
The programme
25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.
Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Foundations of sport and exercise medicine
1. The sports physician and the pre-participation evaluation
- Describe the scope of sport and exercise medicine and the team physician's responsibilities
- Conduct a pre-participation evaluation proportionate to the sport and level
- Use musculoskeletal screening and explain its limited power to predict injury
- Handle consent and confidentiality when the employer is the club
2. Sports cardiology: screening, the athlete's ECG and sudden cardiac death
- Describe the causes of sudden cardiac death in young and older athletes
- Interpret an athlete's ECG using the international criteria
- Distinguish athlete's heart from cardiomyopathy and know when to refer
- Advise on eligibility and return to sport after myocarditis or viral illness
3. Exercise physiology, training load and overtraining
- Describe aerobic and anaerobic energy systems and training adaptations
- Monitor internal and external training load and know the limits of workload ratios
- Distinguish functional overreaching from overtraining syndrome
- Investigate the underperforming athlete
4. Exercise as medicine
- Apply the WHO and UK Chief Medical Officers' physical activity guidelines
- Write an exercise prescription using the FITT principle
- Adapt exercise prescription for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and depression
- Use brief behaviour-change techniques in consultations
5. Imaging and point-of-care ultrasound in sports medicine
- Choose the right imaging test for common sports presentations
- Describe the strengths and limits of point-of-care musculoskeletal ultrasound
- Interpret MRI findings against the high rate of abnormality in asymptomatic athletes
- Avoid unnecessary imaging and radiation in young athletes
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Musculoskeletal sports medicine
6. Tendinopathy
- Explain the continuum model of tendinopathy
- Prescribe progressive loading programmes for the common tendinopathies
- Appraise injections and extracorporeal shockwave therapy
- Recognise when to refer for a surgical opinion
7. Muscle injury and return to play
- Classify muscle injury and estimate time to return
- Design criteria-based rehabilitation for hamstring injury
- Implement evidence-based prevention, including the Nordic hamstring exercise
- Recognise injuries that need a surgical opinion
8. Bone stress injuries
- Identify intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors for bone stress injury
- Grade bone stress injuries on MRI and stratify them by site
- Investigate bone health, including low energy availability
- Plan a graded return to running
9. Joint and ligament injuries managed without surgery
- Apply the Ottawa ankle rules and manage acute ankle sprains functionally
- Manage MCL and AC joint injuries non-operatively
- Recognise hand and wrist injuries that need urgent referral
- Identify injuries that need a surgical opinion within days
10. Injection therapies and orthobiologics
- Appraise the evidence for common injectables in sports injury and osteoarthritis
- Choose between landmark and ultrasound-guided injection
- Apply anti-doping rules on glucocorticoid injections around competition
- Consent athletes for injection, including risks and alternatives
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15Back and groin, head injury, pitchside and environmental medicine
11. Back and groin pain in athletes
- Recognise and manage spondylolysis in the adolescent athlete
- Assess back pain in athletes and identify red flags
- Classify groin pain using the Doha agreement and manage it non-operatively
- Know when to refer to a surgeon
12. Sport-related concussion: recognition and assessment
- Recognise concussion on the field of play and remove the athlete safely
- Use SCAT6 and Child SCAT6 in the first days after injury
- Identify red flags that need emergency assessment and imaging
- Distinguish concussion from cervical spine injury and other causes of collapse
13. Concussion: return to learn, return to sport and long-term brain health
- Apply graduated return-to-learn and return-to-sport strategies
- Apply the UK concussion guidelines for grassroots sport
- Assess and manage persisting post-concussion symptoms
- Discuss the evidence on long-term brain health with athletes and families
14. Pitchside and event medicine
- Manage the collapsed athlete, including cardiac arrest, on the field
- Immobilise and extricate an athlete with suspected cervical spine injury
- Plan medical cover for a mass participation event
- Run a medical team debrief after a serious incident
15. Environmental sports medicine
- Recognise exertional heat stroke and cool the athlete before transfer
- Diagnose and treat exercise-associated hyponatraemia
- Advise on heat acclimatisation and hydration for training and competition
- Manage cold injury and altitude illness
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Medical problems in the athlete
16. Relative energy deficiency in sport and the female athlete
- Explain low energy availability and its effects on health and performance
- Screen and assess for REDs using the IOC REDs Clinical Assessment Tool (CAT2)
- Investigate menstrual dysfunction and bone health in athletes
- Coordinate multidisciplinary management with dietitians and psychologists
17. Respiratory problems, allergy and infection in sport
- Diagnose exercise-induced bronchoconstriction with objective testing
- Treat asthma in athletes within anti-doping rules
- Recognise and manage exercise-induced anaphylaxis
- Advise on training during and after acute infection and limit spread in a squad
18. The athlete with a long-term condition
- Support athletes with type 1 diabetes in training and competition
- Advise athletes with epilepsy on safe participation
- Recognise exertional collapse associated with sickle cell trait
- Counsel athletes with a single kidney, eye or testis on participation
19. Mental health in athletes
- Recognise how common mental health problems present in athletes
- Screen with the IOC Sport Mental Health Assessment Tool (SMHAT-1)
- Arrange referral and support within a team setting
- Support athletes through injury, deselection and retirement
20. Anti-doping, supplements and medicines in sport
- Explain strict liability and the physician's duties under the World Anti-Doping Code
- Check medicines against the Prohibited List and apply for a therapeutic use exemption
- Advise athletes on supplement risk and batch-tested products
- Support an athlete through doping control
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Special populations and the team physician
21. The child and adolescent athlete
- Diagnose and manage apophysitis, including Osgood-Schlatter and Sever's disease
- Advise on training load and early specialisation in young athletes
- Recognise injuries of the growing skeleton that need referral
- Apply safeguarding principles in sports medicine practice
22. The para athlete
- Describe the principles of Paralympic classification
- Recognise and treat autonomic dysreflexia and explain the ban on boosting
- Manage skin, residual limb and overuse problems in para athletes
- Plan medical support for para athletes travelling to competition
23. The masters athlete and exercise in older age
- Assess cardiovascular risk in the masters athlete
- Advise athletes with osteoarthritis on continuing sport
- Prescribe exercise to prevent sarcopenia and falls
- Adapt training to age-related changes in physiology
24. The team physician: travel, tournaments and team care
- Plan medical support for travel and tournaments, including jet lag
- Equip and maintain a team medical bag
- Control an outbreak of infection in a squad
- Keep records and share information to professional standards within a performance team
25. Return-to-play decisions and medicolegal practice in sport
- Use the StARRT framework for return-to-play decisions
- Share decisions with athletes when the risk is uncertain
- Manage conflicts of interest between athlete welfare and team performance
- Apply the course to complex cases in a panel discussion
What the diploma includes
- 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
- Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
- Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
- A digital certificate carrying your final classification.
Lead or teach the Sport and Exercise Medicine Diploma
We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.