Specialist status: holy grail, poisoned chalice, or flat cola?

摘要

After some 12 years of lobbying, meetings, highs, lows, and a very rigorous assessment process, the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing in Australia has agreed that there is a case for Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) to be recognized as a medical specialty. For those interested in understanding exactly how rigorous this process might be, the key documents can be found at www.amc.org.ausqac.asp.The Minister's announcement does not automatically mean that the specialty of SEM is accredited, but it does represent the end of the beginning for recognition of this discipline as a specialty in Australia. The Australasian College of Sports Physicians (ACSP) must now undertake accreditation of its training and assessment processes to ensure they are specialist-level programs. This is likely to take another 18 months and cost close to dollar 100,000 and is by no means a given. However, the ACSP programs are recognized internationally as being of high quality, and the College is quietly confident that it will be able to meet the necessary standards.