GPs looking to move into the rapidly expanding field of sports medicine can now access a suite of new leading-edge postgraduate degrees through The University of Queensland.
UQ`s School of Human Movement Studies has launched the new professional qualifications to both respond to and advance the growing demand for general practitioners with specialist knowledge of sports medicine.
Head of School Professor Bruce Abernethy said the new suite, which begins in 2002, made postgraduate education a more realistic proposition for general practitioners by offering study options that were flexible and individualised.
"GPs wanting to move into this burgeoning field of sports medicine may have been deterred in the past by study options that didn`t marry with the burdens of their daily work," Prof Abernethy said.
"These programs work with rather than against the demands of busy GPs by offering multiple exit points and delivery via a variety of convenient mediums including video, CD, the Internet and locally organised clinical experiences."
On offer are three tiers of qualifications: Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters of Sports Medicine. All provide a comprehensive coverage of the theory and practice of sports medicine to optimise the management of exercise-related injuries and medical conditions.
Professor Abernethy said the programs had been designed and would be taught by experts in the sports medicine field, among them leading academics from within the Faculty of Health Sciences` six schools: Medicine, Pharmacy, Population Health, Health & Rehabilitation Sciences, Dentistry and Human Movement Studies.
"This suite of offerings embraces evidence-based practice and the latest in clinical research methods in sports medicine to optimise the healthcare of physically active people," he said.
"Moreover, owing to the dynamic nature of this field, our course materials will be continually updated and available on an ongoing basis to graduates of the sports medicines programs."
For further information, contact course coordinator Craig Engstrom on (telephone 07 3365 6381 or 07 3365 6240)
