Approximately 200 sports medicine practitioners and students from all over the UK and Ireland were at Principality Stadium on Tuesday to hear renowned experts deliver talks about multiple aspects of their field.
Initial feedback from attendees left Prav Mathema, WRU National Medical Manager and a main member of the conference organising committee, in no doubt that this had been the most successful event since it was first held five years ago.
“It was fantastic with regards to the quality of the speakers, and everybody left the conference with new – and perhaps unexpected – knowledge that could improve the way they practise sports medicine,” explained Mathema. “But the beauty of conferences like these is that it’s not just about the speakers, because the breaks in between are an incredible opportunity for people from all walks of sports medicine to network.”
Fellow organising committee member Dr Geoff Davies, the WRU National Team Doctor, concurred: “People told me they enjoyed seeing people they’d not seen for some time, or meeting individuals they were aware of but not met, because it’s not often you get these practitioners of mixed disciplines together in one room, linking up with other departments.”
Dr Davies also emphasised the relevance of the conference and its subjects, saying: “The update on learnings that the audience received was very valuable. It would have been the first time many of them have heard about the changes to the previous consensus on concussion, for example. We had skilled speakers presenting very interesting cases, offering learning points that could be extrapolated into any sporting environment.”
The success of this year’s conference means it will be a tough one to live up to, both men admit, whilst Mathema proposes a collaboration with another sporting organisation, “because we always want to go bigger, and for it to be the best it can be.”
WRU Sports Medicine Organising Committee: Dr Geoff Davies, Prav Mathema, Caroline Morgan.
The WRU was able to provide tickets free of charge to the 2017 Sports Medicine Conference thanks to the generosity of the following sponsors: GE Healthcare; Hospital Innovations; Nuffield Health; Physique; Sempris; and TRB Chemedica.
