GETTING SPORTS MEDICINE RECOGNISED IN MALAYSIA

By Ravichandran D.J Paul
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 (Bernama) -- "When I run, you run with me," says
Dr Mohamed Mydin Mohd Musa, when asked on his endeavor to promote sports medicine in Malaysia and earn recognition for the country in this fast developing field.
Sports medicine applies medical and scientific knowledge to prevent, recognise, manage, and rehabilitate injuries related to sport, exercise or recreational activity.
However, unlike in developed nations, sports medicine in Malaysia at best can be described as a neglected and poorly understood field.
And therefore a disenchanted Dr Mydin, a sports medicine physician and a fellow of the Federation Internationale de Medecine du Sport (FIMS), embarked on a crusade to establish sports medicine as a discipline of its own in the country.
Right from the outset he realised that there is a need for an independent body to represent sports medicine and thus he established the Society of Sports and Exercise Medicine Malaysia (SSEMM) in March 2010.
He is deeply convinced that sports medicine has an important role in creating a healthy society and in providing a boost for the nation’s lethargic sporting arena.
DWELLING INTO SPORTS MEDICINE
Hardly looking his age, the genial Dr Mydin, 68, who has been in medicalpractice and sports management for more than three decades tells Bernama that sports medicine goes beyond the domain of orthopedics like presumed all this while.

"It is a wholesome approach in not only rehabilitating injuries but also to
prevent the injuries in the first place and prepare athletes mentally and
physically for competitions.

"This fast expanding field encompasses sports psychology, bio-mechanics,
sports injuries treatment, preventive approaches and sports science and not
limited to musculoskeletal aspects like in orthopedics.

"Athletes have to be taught the right techniques to perform optimally in
their respective discipline and avoid injuries," says Dr Mydin while
demonstrating the four phases of the arm movement when a cricket bowler throws
the ball.

And the common perception that sports medicine is limited to athletes alone
is a misnomer, it's meant for everyone in the society including children.

So when a sprinter has a muscle cramp after sprinting, or a paratrooper has
back pain after a hard landing or a ballerina suffers pain in her hips after a
dance routine, the sports medicine physician is the best person to help.


TAKING SPORTS MEDICINE TO A NEW LEVEL

However, there is a dearth of sports medicine practitioners in the country,
a serious setback in promoting this field.

Realising on the need for more trained professionals in this field, in 2010
SSEMM introduced the Masters Programme in Sports and Exercise Medicine through
the 18-month twinning programme with Bath University in UK with the first intake
of 10 students that include two professors and three orthopedic surgeons.

Dr Mydin, who is also the chairman of Malaysian Amateur Wrestling
Federation, has been passionate about sports all his life and thus added
criteria in selecting course participants - they must be active in the field or
in sports management.

This will place them in better footing in preparing athletes for meets or in
treating them using the sports medicine approach. They will also play an
important role in planning out first aid facilities for championships.

Dr Mydin’s contribution to sports medicine has earned him numerous
accolades; a honorary doctorate in sports medicine from Bath University in UK; a
FIMS fellowship and a membership with Canadian Academy Medicine du Sport, the
first Malaysian to be recognised by both organisations.


EARNING A RECOGNITION FOR MALAYSIA

Since establishing SSEMM, it is no turning back for Dr Mydin in advocating
sports medicine. Though sports medicine is at infancy in Malaysia, in May 2010
he led SSEMM on an ambitious undertaking to host the 2014 FIMS World Congress.

For SSEMM, an international event on the subject is bound to provide
immediate recognition and fast track the development of sports science in
Malaysia.

However, with SSEMM's limited resources, the move was a tall order. But the
brilliant lobbying in Puerto Rico by a team headed by Dr Mydin impressed the
delegates.

Though Malaysia lost to Canada in its bid for the World Congress, the
significant support it received prompted FIMS to sanction the five-day
International Congress in Sports and Exercise Medicine (FIMS-ICSEM 2011) in
Kuala Lumpur beginning March 15.

This is a major achievement for SSEMM at the international stage for the
fact that the society was established only a few months earlier.

So far 35 countries have confirmed their participation in FIMS-ICSEM 2011 at
the Royale Chulan in Kuala Lumpur.

For Dr Mydin, the FIMS-ICSEM 2011 is the platform to formally introduce
sports science to Malaysians. Participants for the first time among others will
hear from experts on how to handle an athlete who collapses during competition,
doping control procedures, special consideration in child and adolescent
athletes and preventing injuries in sports.

To ensure wider exposure on sports science, SSEMM has opened participation
not only for physicians but also paramedics like physiotherapists, nurses,
trainers, sports science graduates and the community in general. The doors are
open to undergraduates in medical and allied sciences as well.

Details of the workshop and papers are available at ssemm.org. "After this
event sports medicine will grow in this country", says Dr Mydin who has set the
motion for sports medicine to emerge as a discipline of its own in Malaysia.