Standards for physician training in sports medicine

Modern interest in sports medicine dates to the founding of the International Federation of Sports Medicine in 1928. Formal training in this field has been offered in a number of European countries for many years, but only for one five-year period in the United States at one University. Medical schools in this country may offer short elective periods, but there is no residency training program and only a few fellowships available to the orthopedic surgeon. Physicians seeking postgraduate training must seek out short conferences and read the growing volume of literature. Sports medicine clinics and centers, however, have increased rapidly in number. A group of 80 physicians organized themselves to develop the basis for a curriculum in sports medicine which could be applied to both undergraduate and graduate training. It is divided into basic sciences, organ systems, clinical systems, and miscellaneous topics, and when completed, the outline will be presented to interested medical bodies for their use.