Leicester University Sport and Exercise Medicine Society
LUSEMS is a relatively new society and we are passionate about everything exercise.
Our aims are the following:
Our plans for this year
Some examples of what we achieved last year
Just how important is physical activity for health? The figure 1 link below (Blair, 2009 BJSM) shows the attributable fraction given to each of the following risk factors: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), Obesity, Smoking, Hypertension, High cholesterol and diabetes. The attributable fraction is an estimate of the number of deaths in a population that would have been avoided if a specific risk factor had been absent. Think obesity is the most significant problem in public health? Guess again.
Our aims are the following:
- To promote physical activity within the medical school and for patients.
- To promote the speciality of Sports and Exercise Medicine (SEM).
- To increase the amount of Sports Medicine taught in the medical school.
Our plans for this year
- Increased physical activity and SEM teaching in the curriculum in the form of home-made videos, behaviour change teaching and guest lecturers. We are working with the medical school senior team to achieve this.
- Promotion and transport to and from several SEM conferences.
- Creation of a volunteering scheme titled "Walking-for-Health", part of a national project aimed to encourage inactive patient to walk more through the organisation of weekly short walks.
- Promotion of physical activity amongst medical students through active revision sessions and a "physical activity week".
- Guest lectures on subjects including a career in public health and working in elite sport with Para-Olympians.
Some examples of what we achieved last year
- Free gym and Tai Chi sessions for students.
- Increased physical activity teaching in the HEP module in year 1 of the course.
- Several guest lectures covering topics such as "Working in elite sport" and "A career as a SEM physician".
Just how important is physical activity for health? The figure 1 link below (Blair, 2009 BJSM) shows the attributable fraction given to each of the following risk factors: Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), Obesity, Smoking, Hypertension, High cholesterol and diabetes. The attributable fraction is an estimate of the number of deaths in a population that would have been avoided if a specific risk factor had been absent. Think obesity is the most significant problem in public health? Guess again.