
BJSM Podcast
The British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) podcast offers the latest insights in sport and exercise medicine (SEM). Committed to advancing innovation, enhancing education, and translating knowledge into practice and policy, our podcast features dynamic debates on clinically relevant topics in the SEM field.
Stay informed with expert discussions and cutting-edge information by subscribing or listening in your favourite podcast platform. Improve your understanding of sports medicine with the BJSM podcast, and visit the BMJ Group’s British Journal of Sports Medicine website - bjsm.bmj.com.
BJSM podcast editing and production managed by: Jimmy Walsh.
Latest episodes

Dec 4, 2015 • 17min
How to promote Lifestyle Medicine in the Clinic, Curriculum, Community: Assoc Prof Irfan Asif
The American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) is strongly committed to embedding Exercise is Medicine in the health of Americans. A member of the AMSSM’s leadership group is Associate Professor Irfan Asif, the Director of the Sports Medicine Fellowship within the Department of Family Medicine at the University of South Carolina Greenville.
Our chat focuses on the practical aspects of Lifestyle Medicine – which is more than exercise medicine alone. You’ll hear about: (i) the patient’s journey through a 6-week clinical service, (ii) exercise being embedded in all 4 years of the medical curriculum, (iii) how medical students are engaging with high school students in very practical ways and with some surprising outcomes.
We discuss the challenges of rolling out a lifestyle medicine programme in rural areas with minimal resources and the devil’s advocate asks the hard question: ‘Are doctors really the right persons in health care teams to prescribe exercise?’.
Timeline:
00:47m - What is the Lifestyle Medicine clinic? Who is involved, what are the goals?
02:00m - The diet part – modifying the DASH diet with a Southern Flavour (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (http://ow.ly/VtPSR))
04:00m - An example: walking through the patient’s journey – such as a patient with COPD. The role of partners such at the YMCA
05:30m - What the patient finds important – health or weight loss?
06:00m - How the curriculum embraces Lifestyle Medicine. See the link to Dr Jennifer Trilk’s work below (BJSM paper)
08:00m - Practical experiences of medical students within their communities. From given practical cooking advice to engaging high school students who are at risk of gang-related behaviour. Leadership concepts and team dynamic training – beyond the traditional medical model
10:00m - Physicians encouraging 7th & 8th grade children to ‘get your 30’ (minutes). Teaching CPR to children at this level. Encouraging young students to be open about concussion symptoms. Practical stuff
11:00m - Exercise Vital Sign: how many minutes do you exercise and how often do you exercise? Integrated into the Electronic Medical Record of the 13th largest health system in the US (with credit to Kaiser-Permanent as well). Flipping the health care system upside down from its focus on fee-for-service to prioritising prevention.
13:00m - Rural roll out: how to make this happen outside of major centres: ‘Think big but start small – practical first steps that will bring partners on board’
14:45m - Taking a broader view – 'If we rely only on medical professionals to provide care our system is bound to sink'. 'There is plenty of pathology to go around'. The role of various health professionals in a team that provides excellence: 'Everyone plays a vital role'
15:30m - Dr Asif answers the hard question: 'What if an exercise professional feels he or she knows more about exercise prescription than the doctor?'
Links:
Incorporating ‘Exercise is Medicine’ into the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and Greenville Health System (Editorial, BJSM, 2014) - http://ow.ly/VtWv4
Check out the 2015 Physical Activity Issue of BJSM - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/4.toc
2014 Physical Activity Issue of BJSM - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/3.toc

Nov 27, 2015 • 13min
What is tissue ‘capacity’? How does it help successful rehabilitation? Prof Jill Cook (2nd of 2)
In this 2nd of 2 podcasts for 2015 (link to previous one here http://ow.ly/V8h97) Professor Jill Cook from the La Trobe University Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine Research (Australia) introduces the term ‘capacity’ for physical therapy / physiotherapy.
‘Capacity’ is a very practical concept that underpins successful tendon rehabilitation. Prof. Cook discusses how to use the figure from the linked paper to list exercises a patient should do. Practical stuff. 13 minutes of gold!
Timeline:
1:00m - Why do we need the term ‘capacity’ in clinical practice?
1:30m - Definition – What is tissue ‘capacity’?
2:15m - The difference between ‘capacity’ and ‘function’ – capacity is tissue-specific
3:15m - Practical example: Hamstring muscle strain
5:30m - How to use this in the clinical setting – sitting with a patient and explaining the rehab programme
7:00m - The ‘Capacity’ figure – how to use it with patients to get buy-in to their rehabilitation
8:30m - ‘Building a bridge’ from what patients can do now to what they want to return to
9:00m - Practical tips including examples of (i) strength, (ii) energy storage, (iii) energy storage & release exercises
12:00m - Summary (30 seconds!)
Previous podcast:
How tendons fail, how to treat in season/out of season http://ow.ly/V8h97
Related papers:
The Continuum model of tendinopathy http://ow.ly/V8hLr
The challenge of managing tendinopathy during the season http://ow.ly/V8oTl
Capacity – the paper (with Figure!) that underpins this podcast! http://bmj.co/1MIaBrx

Nov 19, 2015 • 19min
Does everyone who has ruptured her/his ACL need a knee reconstruction? Prof Mark Hutchinson
Dr. Mark Hutchinson is professor of orthopaedics and head of the sports medicine services at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. He has been a team physician for the WNBA Chicago Sky, USA gymnastics, USA Field Hockey, USA Basketball and Team USA at two World University Games and the Paralympics Games.
In this second of a two-part set, he discusses management of the patient who presents with recent onset of acute knee pain. You might be surprised by some of what this orthopaedic surgeon says!
Timeline:
1:30m - Does everybody who ruptures an ACL need a knee reconstruction?
2:00m - How do you advise the person who wants to play soccer?
3:00m - How can you tell whether someone will make a good recovery or not with exercise therapy (not surgery)?
4:00m - OK for patients to go through a trial of physio to see if they are going to be stable or not
5:30m - Management of children who rupture their ACL. It’s a hot topic. On the one hand kids may be less compliant with ACL-risky behaviours than adults; on the other hand, operating and crossing growth plates can cause significant problems
7:30m - The key study by Håvard Moksnes and Lars Engebretsen – ACL injuries in kids (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26025937) (not open access)
7:45m - How to discuss ACL management options with patients directly – ‘Tell us what you say to the patient Hutch’ (An introduction to shared decision-making)
9:15m - Non-operative, quality physiotherapy for ACL deficient patients
10:15m - Does ACL reconstruction prevent osteoarthritis?
11:15m - The elephant in the room – what about management of the patient whose ACL reconstruction has reruptured?
12:45m - Injuring the other knee – a disaster that occurs all too often!
13:30m - Psychological factors: a neglected part of the equation? http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/21/1543.abstract
14:30m - Return to play after reconstruction: the mind matters too! What is the optimal time for collagen healing? Coordination training, functional tests.
16:45m - Return to play with an unoperated knee: with a focus on neuromuscular training exercises
Links:
Previous BJSM podcasts:
Pearls on knee examination: http://ow.ly/UBy3v
Pearls on treating shoulder conditions and one wrist bonus: http://ow.ly/UBym
YouTube videos on Physical Examination have been viewed more than 5 million times! https://www.youtube.com/user/BJSMVideos
YouTube video: 39-minute lecture by Associate Editor Dr Clare Ardern on similar issues – return to play after ACL injury https://youtu.be/P_JJf0h6rhU
Want a replay from last week? (1st podcast in this set) A 40-year old patient presents with an acute exacerbation of knee pain – Professor Hutchinson discusses whether arthroscopy is helpful in the arthritic knee. Which ones need orthopaedic referral?
https://soundcloud.com/bmjpodcasts/mark-hutchinson?in=bmjpodcasts/sets/bjsm-1
Return to Play conference 2016: April 9-11, London (UK). The immensely successful annual Football Medicine Strategies conference focuses on Return to Play for all football injuries – not just ACL. Give this one serious consideration – top programme with over 100 invited speakers, terrific international audience (you will feel at home), friendly atmosphere and convenient venue. All the benefits of London without the need to own an expensive home there! http://www.footballmedicinestrategies.com/en/

5 snips
Nov 13, 2015 • 6min
How to manage the patient with a degenerative meniscal tear? Prof Mark Hutchinson (USA)
Guest Prof Mark Hutchinson, an international leader in Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine, discusses the management of patients with degenerative meniscal tears. He emphasizes the importance of a broad clinical workup and highlights that arthroscopy does not improve outcomes in arthritic knees. Mechanical symptoms may warrant a surgical referral, but most orthopaedic surgeons recommend conservative management. Surgery should be considered as a second-line treatment.

Nov 6, 2015 • 17min
Professor Jill Cook (La Trobe University) revisits BJSM podcasts after two years: First of Two
In her first podcast since being recruited to the La Trobe University Centre for Sports and Exercise Medicine Research (Australia), Professor Jill Cook explains: (i) how tendons break down, (ii) how to assess painful tendons, (iii) how to manage tendon pain DURING a season, and (iv) how to rehabilitate a tendon properly after a season has finished.
She explains what a ‘reactive’ tendon is and what a ‘degenerative’ tendon is as well as what sort of loads should be prescribed for patients who have tendon with these pathologies.
A practical masterclass. Even if you have heard Jill speak before, there will be something new for you here. Sneak peek – Part 2 focuses on the concept of ‘capacity’ and why it’s an important concept.
Further reading
Classic paper: Is tendon pathology a continuum? A pathology model to explain the clinical presentation of load-induced tendinopathy
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/43/6/409.abstract

Oct 30, 2015 • 14min
The Munich muscle classification: Using it for more accurate diagnosis and treatment
Peter Ueblacker is an internationally renowned orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine doctor who had a long and very successful career with Bayern Munich from 2009 – 2015. He works in private practice with Hans-Wilhelm Mueller-Wohlfahrt (http://ow.ly/U2mch). BJSM editor Markus Laupheimer asked the questions (English language).
Timeline
1:00m - Why classify muscle injuries?
3:00m - Limitations of previous classification methods and the need for a comprehensive one – the genesis of the Munich Muscle Injury Classification system. Here is the link to this Open Access paper in BJSM (>55,000 views) http://ow.ly/U2pMG
4:18m - What are the benefits for the health professional who uses the Munich classification system? Definition of ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ muscle injuries.
5:00m - The challenge of ‘functional’ muscle injuries. No pathology on MR imaging yet a major burden for football teams because players cannot play – time loss injuries.
6:00m - Different muscle injuries lead to different periods of time out of sport. Is this a 2-week or 5-week injury?
6:40m - Trying to predict prognosis – is it possible? What can we tell coaches? You’ll find a counter-argument here http://ow.ly/U2qFJ (not discussed in this podcast).
7:10m - Drilling down on structural muscle injuries. Tendinous injuries within the muscle are important (See @PeterBrukner paper on that here http://ow.ly/U2rBc)
8:15m - How the spine is contributing to muscle injuries. Under-rated? Clinical implications.
10:00m - A practical walk through the management of hamstring muscle injuries
Additional links:
http://ow.ly/U2mUG - Previous podcast with Professor Gino Kerkhoffs also considers the Munich Consensus paper. It complements the present podcast in its greater focus on the consensus process and argues of the usefulness of MR imaging in muscle injury diagnosis.
http://ow.ly/U2o0Q - Previous podcast with Professor Jan Ekstrand focusing on hamstring injuries. Which of the hamstring muscles is most likely injured? How long will such an injury keep a player out of sport? Also comments on the Munich Consensus
http://ow.ly/U2ova - Hamstring ‘virtual conference’ BJSM blog by Steffan Griffin (@Lifestylemedic), BJSM editor responsible for Facebook among other things.
You can readily access BJSM podcasts via our Mobile App (BJSM). Latest sports medicine updates are posted via Twitter (@BJSM_BMJ) and on the Google+ community http://ow.ly/U2sNs where you are encouraged to post content too.

Oct 23, 2015 • 25min
Prof Peter O’Sullivan considers surgery for back pain: Tiger Woods’ 2015 re-operation
Sports physiotherapists provide evidence-based treatment for back pain. Unfortunately surgery for back pain has rather poor outomes. Tiger Woods has spinal surgery on March 31, 2014 and did not return to his previous level of play. He went under the knife again on September 16, 2015. In this podcast, Curtin University’s Professor Peter O’Sullivan comments on the risks and possible benefits of surgery in an elite golfer.
Previous podcast (>10,000 listens): Professor Peter O’Sullivan (@PeteOSullivanPT) on Tiger Woods’ back and ‘core strength’ http://ow.ly/TK6uo

Oct 16, 2015 • 22min
Einführung in die Bewegungsmedizin : “Bewegung bringt Heilung” mit Dr Boris Gojanovic
Wenn Dir jemand sagen würde da gibt es eine Pille die bei Beschwerden aller Art hilft mit fast keinen Nebenwirkungen und evetuell das menschliche Leben verlängern kann --- was würdest du sagen? Wo kann ich diese Pille kaufen?
Die Bewegungsmedizin ist ein anerkanntes Therapiekonzept für viele Erkrankungen des Bewegungsapparates wie Rückenschmerzen, Tendinopathien und Gelenksarthrose. Aber auch bei vielen Internistische Indikationen wie Herzertkrankung, Diabetes usw.
Dr Boris Gojanovic gibt uns eine EInführung. In Diskussion mit Dr Markus Laupheimer (BJSM) werden degenerative Meiskusrisse und Bluthochdruck Therapie besprochen, als Beispiel wie die Bewegungstherapie Therapie der Wahl ist.
Weitere Links zur Bewegungsmedizin:
Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Sportmedizin (SGSM): http://www.sgsm.ch/
Swiss French SEM network
http://www.rrms.ch/cms/index.php
Blog Deutsche Verband für Gesundheitssport und Sporttherapie (DVGS): http://www.dvgs.de/blog
Bedeutung und Evidenz der körperlichen Aktivität zur Prävention und Therapie von Erkrankungen: http://www.dgsp.de/_downloads/allgemein/RfB-DMW-Loellgen2013-ub-323.pdf
Therapie von degenerativen Meniskusrissen:
http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/49/19/1229.full
http://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2014/06/15/time-to-stop-meniscectomies-for-degenerative-tears-practice-must-catch-up-with-evidence/
Twitter:
British Journal of Sports Medicine @BJSM_BMJ
Dr Markus Laupheimer @swisssportscare
Dr Boris Gojanovic @DrSportsSante

Oct 16, 2015 • 20min
Rugby: Player Preparation and Monitoring with Nigel Jones
Dr Nigel Jones is the England Rugby Senior Team Doctor, and a hugely respected figure in the UK Sport and Exercise Medicine scene. In this podcast with Steffan Griffin, you will hear about everything from being involved as part of the home team at a major sporting event, to the state-of-play in UK Sport and Exercise Medicine training.
Timeline:
00:45m – Working at the 2015 Rugby World Cup
01:30m – Preparing an elite team for competition
03:05m – Conditioning vs collapse – how to avoid the latter!
05:15m – Player monitoring at the top table
06:30m – Getting coaches to buy-in to player monitoring/injury
prevention – TOP TIPS
08:30m – Concussion – what’s in place to ensure gold-standard care?
World Rugby Online Concussion Resources http://playerwelfare.worldrugby.org/concussion
12:00m – Sport and Exercise Medicine Training Pathway in the UK – where’s it heading?
16:20m – British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine & the Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine - What can we expect at the BASEM/FSEM 2015 Conference?
Find out more about the BASEM/FSEM 2015 Annual Conference – November 12/13 http://bit.ly/1Woxmpn

Oct 9, 2015 • 18min
Managing Cervicogenic Headache and Other Pearls: Professor Gwen Jull. Second of two podcasts
Professor Gwen Jull, from the University of Queensland, is one of the most lauded health professionals in the world. She discusses the assessment and management of the patient with neck pain. In the second half of the podcast BJSM asks her a couple of broader questions. What does it take to be a great clinician?
Timings
1:30m - A case of headache – what elements to consider in the subjective/history
3:00m - What differentiates the expert clinician from learners who are treating neck pain?
4:00m - How to identify those headaches that respond to physiotherapy and which ones don’t respond well.
7:00m - What does it take to be a good clinician?
8:00m - Perspectives on the physiotherapy/physical therapy profession. Importance of being first contact practitioners.
9:45m - Physiotherapists as leaders in large health organisations and pioneers in heath service changes.
11:45m - Professor Jull shares the highlights of the new issue of Grieve’s Modern Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy here http://ow.ly/Sj4cn
15:00m - The biopsychosocial model – avoid biases towards one domain in this model. Advocating for the multimodal approach to physiotherapy/physical therapy.
Links:
Grieve’s Modern Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy (4th edition): Book review here http://ow.ly/Sj4cn Gwen Jill is the lead author of this physiotherapy Bible.
First of Professor Jull’s two podcasts: Assessment and Management of Neck Pain. First of Two conversations http://ow.ly/TcVtr
Related podcast: Professor Michele Sterling: ‘Managing Whiplash’ (2013). Very practical management of Whiplash that held up of the 2 years. http://ow.ly/Sj4Jz
Is the neck pain related to concussion? A related paper in BJSM: Schneider KJ, et al. Br J Sports Med. 2014 Sep;48(17):1294-8. Cervicovestibular rehabilitation in sport-related concussion: a randomised controlled trial - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/48/17/1294.abstract