Best Practices in Sports Medicine: AMSSM and AOASM Case Studies represents the best cases presented at the annual meetings of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. Organized by anatomic subject, these cases touch on nearly every area of clinical interest in the field of sports medicine. Edited for clarity and well referenced, these cases collectively provide the interested reader the opportunity to learn from the stories of those who have journeyed on those less well-traveled roads. The renowned organizations exist, in part, to advance the education of their members in the field of sports medicine.
This case-based learning resource provides a unique way to broaden your sports medicine knowledge base and can be used as a study tool in preparation for the board exam review. To facilitate this, the topic areas in the book are modeled on content areas in the American Board of Family Medicine Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine (CAQ) exam. The multidisciplinary input delivered in these cases is designed to provide the reader with a view of sports medicine issues through the eyes of athletic trainers, physical therapists, and other medical specialists.
In medicine, there is no better teacher than your own patient. In the exam room, the objectivity of medical texts and clinical trials runs headlong into the subjective needs of a person with a host of different variables that make their visit unique. In the exam room, the science and the art of medicine merge. Because these lessons are practically applied, the clinical pearls that individuals gain through a case stay with them. Though case studies are often associated with physicians in training, physicians are never too old to learn from a good clinical story and the experience of others.
In reality, most physicians can recall their own early experiences presenting cases to attending physicians in morbidity and mortality conferences, as well as podium case presentations at our national sports medicine conferences. Having to defend a diagnostic approach and plan of care to much more experienced physicians is nerve-racking, but ultimately rewarding. Clinical cases reveal the nuances in medicine—the grey areas where decision points can go either way. They often reveal that a patient’s journey back to health can take many different roads. Because medicine is so nuanced—often the road most traveled isn’t the best road for every circumstance—learning from clinical case studies is well worthwhile.
