The UB, Barça and Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, together to promote sports medicine
This Tuesday, the University of Barcelona, FC Barcelona -through Barça Innovation Hub platform-, Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu have signed a collaboration agreement to launch initiatives on sports medicine teaching, training, and research.
This agreement has taken place in the FC Barcelonaʼs presidential office with Josep Maria Bartomeu, president of FC Barcelona; Josep Maria Campistol, general director of Hospital Clínic, with Antoni Castells, director for Strategy and Planning; Manel del Castillo, managing director of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, and Miquel Pons, medical director, together with Joan Elias, rector of the University of Barcelona, and Francesc Cardellach, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Other members of the FC Barcelona attended the meeting: Òscar Grau; director of Sport Sciences, Ramon Canal, and Gil Rodas, head of Health & Wellness area in Barça Innovation Hub, who will be member of the Sports Medicine unit of Hospital Clínic-Sant Joan de Déu.
This Tuesday, the University of Barcelona, FC Barcelona -through Barça Innovation Hub platform-, Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu have signed a collaboration agreement to launch initiatives on sports medicine teaching, training, and research.
This agreement has taken place in the FC Barcelonaʼs presidential office with Josep Maria Bartomeu, president of FC Barcelona; Josep Maria Campistol, general director of Hospital Clínic, with Antoni Castells, director for Strategy and Planning; Manel del Castillo, managing director of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, and Miquel Pons, medical director, together with Joan Elias, rector of the University of Barcelona, and Francesc Cardellach, dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences. Other members of the FC Barcelona attended the meeting: Òscar Grau; director of Sport Sciences, Ramon Canal, and Gil Rodas, head of Health & Wellness area in Barça Innovation Hub, who will be member of the Sports Medicine unit of Hospital Clínic-Sant Joan de Déu.
Creation of an own teaching hospital unit
This agreement will promote a teaching and sports medicine assistance unit formed by the Hospital Clínic and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, which will enable resident doctors (MIR) in this field of expertize to receive training in this hospital unit. So far, this training was only offered in professional schools. In this context, the alliance aims to create pre and postgraduate studies, through the University of Barcelona, aimed at all professionals in the field of sports medicine, as well as start working on new research lines.
FC Barcelona joins this project through Barça Innovation Hub, the area that gathers all management projects for knowledge, training, research and innovation in the club. The entity will contribute to develop the mentioned actions as a worldwide model in sports medicine and taking into account this is a crucial speciality in sport clubs. FC Barcelona has a team made up of sixteen sport medicine doctors who assist 2,500 athletes, professional and amateurs.
Sports medicine —which has been a model in Catalonia since the sixties, when the Sports Medicine School of the UB was created— is a branch of medicine which assesses the health and physical condition of athletes from all levels, it helps preventing injuries and treating them, and promotes the prevention, treatment and rehab for many chronic diseases. This knowledge on the prescription of physical activity is necessary and should be spread to other branches of medicine and to all health professionals in general.
During the signing ceremony, the rector of the UB, Joan Elias, noted that “the University of Barcelona was pioneer in bringing the education on sports medicine in our country”. “We will continue working -he added- on the training of professionals who want to specialize on this discipline. Doing so together with Clínic and Sant Joan de Déu hospitals, two UB university hospitals, and the FC Barcelona, guarantees itʼs going to be a success”.
The president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, recognized that "it is a great satisfaction to contribute to the training of future experts on sports medicine in our city and do so with these partners, three institutions, the University of Barcelona, Hospital Clínic, and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu which, like Barça, are part of the brand 'Barcelona'". “As a club, —he said— we need the best professionals to respond the needs of our athletes, and we have to promote a better training and research through the Barça Innovation Hub platform, so that it can also help society in general”.
Also, Manel del Castillo, managing director of Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, and Josep Maria Campistol, general director of Hospital Clínic, stressed the importance of sports practice and education and research on this field: “Sports practice is one of the pillars in education for kids and youngsters, and therefore it should be promoted”, said Del Castillo. “Our sports medicine unit aims to contribute to guarantee a safe sports practice and give an answer to complex questions related to sports in kids and pregnant women”, he added.
Then, Jose Maria Campistol highlighted that the creation of this sports medicine unit and the promotion of training and research in this field are a strategy for the Hospital: “Society is realizing sport is an important element in peopleʼs health. Like in all areas of expertise, our priority -apart from assisting patients- is to train new professionals and do a great research”.