Jaques on pressure in sport medicine

 
 

by James Skitt - 09.12.09

English Institute of Sport (EIS) Director of Sport Medicine Dr Rod Jaques has spoken of the pressure on doctors in sport in an article for the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Dr Jaques, who has over 20 years experience of treating elite athletes having attended four Olympic Games and various World and European Championships, spoke about the stresses that can surround decisions as to whether an athlete is fit enough to compete, whilst offering advice on how best to deal with such dilemmas.

He told the BMJ: “You need to remember where the pressure originates."
 
“There are 61 million people in the UK and only 320 go to the Olympic Games, most of whom will only attend once. They have gone through years of training and selection processes. There they are in Beijing and it’s up to you to decide whether they can compete. My attendance at the Sydney Olympic Games was especially challenging in terms of the decisions I had to make.”

Such decisions often revolve around questions such as whether the athlete is medically fit to perform and will they suffer irreparable harm if they compete, both of which are open to interpretation.

“I’ve been to Olympic events where I’ve seen substantial interpretation of ‘irreparable harm’ and significant challenges to whether athletes are fit to perform. It creates a lot of pressure for everyone.”

Jaques suggests the best solution in these cases comes from developing a strong support system of colleagues and mentors with whom you can discuss such difficult decisions.

“You attend the Olympic Games with a panel of doctors” he says. “And they share the difficult decisions that arise. It means that the hardest decisions are collective ones and that the support system is crucial to coping. I don’t recall ever feeling isolated at an Olympic Games and that’s essential when making those inevitable yet ethically sound decisions.”

Click here to view the full on the British Medical Journal website