31/12/2012

FIMS mail - 4th edition 2012 (Lausanne, 31 December 2012)

President’s Message

Dear Colleagues, dear Friends,

At the end of a successful year of development and growth for FIMS, I would like to wholeheartedly thank you for your valued contribution to our achievements as much as for your collegiality and friendship which form the professional spirit within the FIMS Family that we all cherish.

Besides expressing my sincere gratitude to everyone involved, the end-of-year message is the place for the President to take stock of those last twelve months. However, as this point in time also marks the halftime of my presidency, I ask you to allow me to extend my resume to the last two years – not for the sake of looking back itself, but to analyse and plan our future activities accordingly.

Undoubtedly, all of us still have vivid memories of the overwhelming success of the 32nd FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine in September in Rome. A total of 2800 sports physicians and scientists, physiotherapists, sport scientists, students and other colleagues from 92 National Sports Medicine Associations in five continents convened in Rome, making this the largest FIMS World Congress ever. The World Congress remains our educational and scientific flagship event offering not only unique opportunities for continuous education and keeping up-to-date with latest scientific evidence, but also for networking and promotion of FIMS. It is our responsibility to open this congress for as many colleagues worldwide as possible, and we need to make particular efforts to enable those from regions where sports medicine is still developing to participate. It will be a major task of the Council of Delegates and future organising committees to duly consider and optimise the accessibility and affordability of locations for colleagues from remote and resource-limited regions.

Another major task I never get tired to stress is the consolidation of the financial foundation of FIMS. Since the beginning of my term, we have been able to triplicate the budget that is at FIMS´ disposal to support our activities. Today, we have four major sponsors, BoscosystemLab, Creagri Inc., Merck,Sharp&Dohme and Pharmanutra, whom we need to cultivate and partner with professionally. However, to achieve our goals and develop as an organisation, we need to further extend our sponsor base. Our prospect for success in this vital matter is closely linked to the visibility, image and influence of FIMS. The size and success of the FIMS World Congress in 2012 has sent an important message to current and potential sponsors, a message which surely has increased our attractiveness. We need to maintain and build on this in the future.

Further, the establishment of our Headquarters at the Maison du Sport Internationale in Lausanne has not only given FIMS a home, but the location gives us the perfect opportunity to strengthen our relationships with the sport, scientific and medical communities and the leading international bodies. FIMS has been registered as a tax-exempt organisation in the Swiss Canton Vaud and is in the process of being registered in the commercial registry, which will greatly facilitate all banking arrangements and transfers. The crucial next step now is the employment of an at least part-time administrator.

Another major achievement, which has been high up on the Executive Committee´s agenda for long, is the establishment of the FIMS Collaborating Centres of Sports Medicine launched in autumn 2012. These Centres are meant to play a vital role in distributing and implementing the objectives formulated in FIMS´ vision and mission. Referring to my above comments on the advancement of our profession and in order to promote best practice sport medicine worldwide, a pivotal task of these Centres has to be the promotion of a mentoring model applicable to developing countries and early career professionals. This is also an area where their achievements are demonstrable and can be measured. It is our hope to gradually extent this network of local collaborations, which will at the same time continuously increase its importance and influence.

In summary, underlining the importance of our recent achievements, our activities in 2013 and beyond will have to be directed towards further enhancing the financial capacity of FIMS by entering into further sponsorships and develop alternative sources of income; to appropriately staff our Headquarters; to develop the network of FIMS Collaborating Centres and to intensify FIMS´ relationship with major stakeholder organisations in sports medicine. The next milestone event we are all working towards is the 33rd FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine in Quebec, Canada, in 2014 where we shall all convene as part of an ever growing and more influential FIMS family all over the world.

Again, I sincerely thank all of you for your support of FIMS, my Colleagues in the Executive Committee and in the FIMS Commissions and the Organizers of the excellent congress in Rome for their work and contribution. I am looking forward to using the momentum created to further grow FIMS, advance the knowledge and skills in sports medicine and impact on the way sports and physical activity is used to protect athletes´ and community health worldwide.

With my very best wishes for an active, fulfilled and inspiring new year,

Fabio Pigozzi, FIMS President

Letter to FIMS National Sports Medicine Associations

On the initiative of the FIMS Development Commission, the FIMS Secretary General has sent a letter to all the residents and Secretary Generals of the FIMS Member National Associations to initiate closer collaboration between them and FIMS aimed at benefitting all parties involved. The proposal by FIMS is based on intensified communication, sharing of platforms and databases, joint educative and scientific initiatives as well as exploring shared sponsorship agreements, but we welcome any comments and additional suggestions. By strengthening our relationship we hope to create opportunities for everyone engaged in our profession through creating awareness of sports medicine issues in the sporting and general community. The FIMS Executive Committee is very much looking forward to receiving your input and recommendations.

News from the Commissions - FIMS Collaborating Centres of Sports Medicine

While working on the evaluation of the first submitted applications, which we considered as a pilot project, the Review Committee has identified a number of issues in the application and accreditation process that need to be addressed prior to extending the call for applications. Therefore, the FIMS Bureau and the Review Committee decided to allow as much time as needed to consolidate and standardize the process of becoming a FIMS Collaborating Center of Sports Medicine to ensure it is entirely transparent and reproducible. The current applicants have been informed on the status of their accreditation and the details of the accredited Centers will be published in January.

FIMS will call for new applications early next year and then regularly thereafter. We hope to encourage many more colleagues from Centers worldwide to become part of this network of collaborating Centers, so that together we may advance best practice in sports medicine everywhere and particularly in regions and countries where our discipline is still developing, and continuously grow the worldwide support for our objectives.

Publications

Get your copy of the new FIMS Team Physician Manual

As announced in the last FIMSmail, the long-awaited fully revised and updated third edition of the FIMS Team Physician Manual is now available to Colleagues worldwide. The Team Physician Manual has become a reference for physicians, physiotherapists and any medical professional working in sport. In compact format, it offers a complete guide to the background knowledge, practical techniques and professional skills required to master best practice in sports medicine. Well illustrated, with step-by-step guidance, plus text boxes and checklists for quick reference, the Team Physician Manual covers every key area of sports medicine, from the pre-participation examination to rehabilitation. The manual assists in the diagnosis and treatment of all common sports injuries, offering practice- and evidence-based advice on field side assessment, diagnosis and treatment. It also provides the required background in physiology, nutrition, anti-doping issues, the prevention and psychology of injury and addresses specific target groups.

Written and edited by a team of highly regarded FIMS exponents from North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia, the Team Physician Manual is a ‘must have’ for any colleague in sports medicine. We would like to thank Lyle Micheli for his untiring work to realize this further edition of our flagship education product. The Team Physician Manual is available for $71.95 in paperback and $170 in hardback.

Follow the below links to browse through the content and order online are:

Upcoming FIMS events

  • FIMS Executive Committee meeting 16th May 2013, Salvador, Brazil, in conjunction with the 25th Brazilian Congress of Sports and Exercise Medicine
  • FIMS Team Physician Development Course 28-29 June 2013, Santorini, Greece
  • FIMS Team Physician Instructor Course 27 June 2013, Santorini, Greece
  • XXXIII FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine 18-21 June 2014, Quebec City, Canada
  • XXXIV FIMS World Congress of Sports Medicine 30 September - 2 October 2016,  Istanbul, Turkey 
  • The Québec City Convention Centre renews its agreement with Fondation de la faune du Québec