With demand for sports medicine professionals on the upswing following the fusion of sports and entertainment industries, sponsorships and bonuses are becoming bigger and better
A hip new age profession which is now very much on the radar screens of ambitious and adventurous youth is sports medicine. Although sports medicine specialists are relatively new on the Indian vocational scene, their utility to megabucks sports stars in the West is an acknowledged reality. With compet-itive games and sports involving crores of prize money becoming ever more demanding, a meticulously supervised training regimen is essential to maintain the fitness of the new tribe of sports millionaires. It’s the job of sports medicine specialists to treat athletes for injuries, as well as to advise preventive measures for athletes to avoid fitness and injury problems.
Contrary to popular perception, sports medicine is a multi-disciplinary vocation. Latter day sports medicine professionals also render physiological evaluation, training, counseling, injury rehabilit-ation and diet prescription services to their high value clients.
Again, contrary to conventional belief, sports medicine is a highly specialised career with the minimum qualification for admission into study programmes being the five-year MBBS degree. In India the most reputed institute is Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports, Patiala which offers a two-year programme in sports medicine recognised by the Medical Council of India. Kolkata also boasts reputed institutes such as Sports Authority of India, Salt Lake; West Bengal Sports Medicine Centre, Netaji Indoor Stadium; CAB Medical Unit and IFA Medical Unit, Eden Gardens.
A more expensive option is to pursue this study programme abroad where it is a well-established discipline. Among the more reputed sports medicine instit-utes abroad are American College of Sports Medicine, Indianapolis; American Sports Medicine Institute, Birmingham, Alabama; University of Nottingham, UK; University of Bath, UK; and University of Queensland, Australia.
With the demand for sports medicine professionals on the upswing and following the fusion of sports and entertainment industries, bonuses and sponsorships are getting bigger and better. Therefore multinational corpor-ates sponsoring sports events are increasingly employing sports medicine professionals to help star players and athletes cope with stress and maintain fitness. Consequently pay scales and remuneration packages tend to be attractive, starting at Rs.50,000-60,000 per month.
“Sports medicine has belatedly become an attractive career option in India against the backdrop of a growing sports and gym culture. It’s only a matter of time before all sportspersons/teams become dependent on sports medicine professionals to keep them in fine fettle,’’ says Dr. Dilip Nadkarni, a Mumbai-based orthopaedic surgeon and sports injury specialist who runs the Nadkarni Clinic, and is a sports injury consultant with the Lilavati Hospital, Sports Authority of India, Mumbai Cricket Association and other sports bodies. A keen sportsman himself, after clearing his MBBS from Nair Hospital, Mumbai in 1982, Nadkarni pressed on to acquire a diploma in orthopaedics from College of Physicians & Surgeons, Bombay. To specialise further, in 1987 he completed a six-month course at Tokyo Teishin Hospital, Japan, adding a fellowship in arthroscopic surgery to his impressive credentials.
A busy sports medicine professional who maintains the health and fitness of several cricket and football stars, Nadkarni’s book (Real Fitness), research papers and lectures on the subject have been widely acclaimed. Says the good doctor: “A sports medicine professional can contribute immensely apart from healing and curing. He can advise relevantly on the kind of sport a person should choose based on the body type, anthropometric and physiological tests. For example, a marathon runner must have a lean physique, while a discus thrower must have a muscular body. He can also check a person’s inherent medical problems and advise him accordingly about his sports choice.’’
Sports medicine is an appropriate career for those interested in fitness and medicine. “Since I’ve played table tennis at the national level and am now a gym buff and keen golfer, being closely involved with sports gives me a great high. And I’m paid for it!’’ he says with satisfaction.
Indra Gidwani (Mumbai)