As part of the series of podcasts highlighting the best of sports medicine the world over, Dr Stefano Della Villa shares a very successful model of sports medicine clinical care in Italy; Cristiano Eirale comments on his experiences in Italy and for the last 6 years in Qatar. Both sports physicians have tremendous football experience but a focus of the podcast is delivery of clinical care - the patient journey in setting a multidisciplinary clinical setting. Dr Della Villa highlights the ‘case manager’ role of the sports physician and this model has been critical in the Isokinetic clinics in Italy. The Isokinetic Medical Group, established in 1987, is a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. The headquarters and the very substantial Education and Research Department, directed by Professor Giulio Sergio Roi, are located in Bologna, with other outpatient clinics located in Rome, Milan, Turin, Verona and Rimini. The group has now expanded to Harley Street in London. Dr Eirale was the first sports physician recruited to Aspetar - Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital and he has witnessed not just the building of a massive state-of-the art hospital but the emergence of a new focus of sports medicine excellence in the Gulf Region.

Those of you who appreciate the Italian language will enjoy Dr Della Villa being interviewed by Dr Eirale about other topics in the first Italian language podcast in the BMJ Grouphttp://bit.ly/15T7NCK.

This short podcast is directed to patients - specifically active sportspeople who have recently rupture an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Associate Professor Richard Frobell is the lead of the team that has addressed a key question with the most rigorous research study to date. Is there any benefit to immediate knee reconstruction? Will waiting for a knee reconstruction lead to more injury or arthritis?

See also:

Treatment for acute anterior cruciate ligament tear: five year outcome of randomised trial bit.ly/Yqr25b

A Randomized Trial of Treatment for Acute Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears bit.ly/cgTUfO

Renström PA. Eight clinical conundrums relating to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in sport: recent evidence and a personal reflection. Br J Sports Med. 2012 Aug 31 1.usa.gov/14M4mzO

G Myklebust, R Bahr, Return to play guidelines after anterior cruciate ligament surgery bit.ly/ZK5pZk

G Myklebust, R Bahr, Return to play guidelines after anterior cruciate ligament surgery bit.ly/ZK5pZk

G Myklebust, R Bahr, Return to play guidelines after anterior cruciate ligament surgery bit.ly/ZK5pZk

Carbohydrate feeding and glycogen synthesis during exercise in man bit.ly/13seQzR

‘Personalized medicine’ has been touted as a major health opportunity. How likely is the promise to be realised? Tim Caulfield hit the global headlines in February 2011 when he was one of the first to argue that human genome had not delivered in the way that some had claimed it would. His Science paper echoed around in the world and was picked up by major news sources like the NY Times, Al Jazeera and the BJSM Blog http://bit.ly/11Ax6pn.

Professor Caulfield is a terrific health communicator - a champion of ‘knowledge translation’ aka ‘knowledge exchange’ among other things. The concept of turning research into action. In this podcast he gives BJSM listeners insights into how genomic discoveries may or may not influence personal and public health. He even underwent personal genomic screening in the interests of science!

This podcast is relevant to one of BJSM’s most popular papers - ‘What makes champions’ by geneticist Professor Malcolm Collins and physiologist Dr Ross Tucker http://bit.ly/10bIshB. In upcoming weeks we’ll drill deeper into injury risk and genetic predisposition with Professor Malcolm Collins. You can keep an eye on new BJSM podcast releases on our home page (www.bsjm.bmj.com) and via Twitter (@BJSM_BMJ)

Shoulder strength profile in elite junior tennis players: horizontal adduction and abduction isokinetic evaluation bit.ly/10widsD

In this podcast we look at what sports and exercise medicine around the world can learn from Australia, just one of the countries where the area is thriving.

Scott Gardner is an Australian sports scientist currently working in the UK, recently with British Cycling, and he describes what’s going on at the Australian Institute of Sport, and why he thinks they’re so good at training clinicians (0.45).

Sports medicine in football is where John Orchard, associate professor at the University of Sydney and sports physician for Australian cricket and the Sydney Roosters, thinks the country is getting it right. He argues that politics in the English Premier League can prevent clinicians from doing their job properly, whereas those working in Australia face a much more open culture (5.24).

And Peter Brukner, previously head of Sports Medicine & Sports Science at Liverpool FC and media commentator, talks about how the media and public down under are very interested in, and hence knowledgeable about, sports injuries, and how this has a positive impact for clinicians. He also gives us a round up of what other countries are doing particularly well in sports and exercise medicine (13.11).

Future BJSM podcasts will put other nations under the spotlight; Phil Glasgow will share Team GB’s Olympic success story in the next installment in this series.

Drs Gardner, Orchard and Brukner spoke about sports and exercise medicine in Australia at a meeting organised by the Sporting Health Group, where Harriet Vickers (BMJ’s assistant multimedia editor) recorded this podcast.

See also:

Who is to blame for all the football inuries? http://bit.ly/NOJQF5

On the value of team medical staff: can the “Moneyball” approach be applied to injuries in professional football? http://bit.ly/10aYJSY

Professor Kim Harmon from the University of Washington, former President of AMSSM, has a strong clinical record in managing concussion on sideline in football. She led the AMSSM’s consensus document on concussion and here she guides you as to how to interpret current concussion ‘guidelines’ into best practice for your players on game day. She also previews AMSSM’s Annual Meeting - San Diego, April 2012.

Jill’s previous podcast on managing tendinopathies bit.ly/15DM8Qp