October 2001 • Volume 7 • Number 10
Put me in, Coach
AAFP releases new sports medicine consensus statementBY CINDY McCANSE
"The Team Physician and Conditioning of Athletes for Sports: A Consensus Statement" -- the third in a series of sports medicine policy statements developed by the Academy and other groups -- is ready to take the field.
This latest statement represents the fruits of an ongoing collaboration of the AAFP, American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American College of Sports Medicine, American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, American Orthopaedic Society for Sports and American Osteopathic Academy of Sports.
The statement addresses general conditioning principles, including sport-specific conditioning and modification of the conditioning program as indicated; pre-season issues; in-season issues; and off-season issues.
Robert Pallay, M.D., of Belle Mead, N.J., a member of the Commission on Public Health, and David Glover, M.D., of Warrensburg, Mo., team physician for Central Missouri State University and a Missouri AFP past president, represented the AAFP on the consensus panel.
According to Glover, the consensus group's original intention was that the statements would primarily target the team physician -- the physician who's dealing with athletes. "But as we encourage our patients to become more and more active," he added, "we should probably identify 'athletes' as all of us."
Previous consensus statements developed by the groups are "Team Physician" and "Sideline Preparedness for the Team Physician." They cover guide-lines for choosing a team physician, an outline of the duties expected of that physician and sideline preparedness at sporting events, including a medical services plan.
To access the first two consensus statements, go to http://www.aafp.org and click on "Clinical Information." Next, click on "Clinical Policies" and then on "Public Health" to find links to each statement. The third statement will go online soon.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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