Archives

MFA medical staff attend course, conference in Barcelona

Published: 29-05-2017 12:55
image1 (102)
A Football Doctor Education course was organised by UEFA late last month for the lead doctors of the European FA’s. This was one of three courses which dealt specifically with the pitchside care of the footballer. Doctors from 26 European FA’s were invited, some of whom had attended a similar course in the past.  Dr Kirill Micallef Stafrace, the Malta FA’s Medical Director, attended this course which was led by a team of acute medicine experts under the guidance of Scotland’s national team doctor and a concussion expert from Sweden. According to Dr Micallef Stafrace, the aim of this high-level course was to provide candidates with a strong basic and advanced life support practice in such a manner that they could then pass on this knowledge in their own country.   At the end of the course the candidates sat for an exam consisting of 100 multiple choice questions followed by two practical scenarios. Meanwhile, Dr Micallef Stafrace and Dr Daniel McKean represented the Malta FA in the 26th edition of the International Conference on Sports Rehabilitation and Traumatology, organised by the Isokinetic Medical Group in association with FIFA and with the support of FC Barcelona. Martina Borseti, one of the senior physiotherapists at the MFA Millennium Clinic, was also present for this conference, held at the Camp Nou, as guest of the Isokinetic Medical Group ‘The Future of Football Medicine’ was the topic of this conference which represented an opportunity to find synergies between the innovative ideas of young specialists and the experience of some of the most renowned professionals in this field. The conference featured the participation of over 2,500 delegates from more than 86 countries. “The conference was well organised, innovative and provided an opportunity to learn more about the latest science in football sports medicine from a diverse group of speakers,” Dr Micallef Stafrace said. “The talks covered four main areas: how to prevent injury, how to manage an injury, how to recover faster (both from an injury and stressful physical overload) and how to improve performance (technically and physiologically). “It has given us ideas of how we can implement positive changes within our current set-up and also once again emphasised the importance of continuous research in all aspects of football medicine and football science.”