Open lecture series – a dose of sporting medicine

Dr Paul Catterson – A dose of sporting medicine: The role of medicine in elite sport

On Monday 30th November, the Newcastle School for Boys open lecture 2015-16 series was launched with an engaging and perfectly pitched lecture from Dr Paul Catterson, the club doctor at Newcastle United and Director of the Sports and Exercise medicine training programme and the Northern Deanery.

The lecture was very well attended by boys, parents and friends of the school who were given a real insight into the world of professional sport through the example of Paul’s work at the premier league football club. It was fascinating to hear about the extent to which support is put in place to provide athletes with the best possible chance of performing at the top level, but also the challenges which the medical profession faces as elite sportsmen perform to ever higher levels. The audience were treated to a number of anonymous ‘case studies’ which really helped to put the job into context, and helped the audience get a real insight into the importance of preparation and data analysis at any level of sport.

Our very sincere thanks and gratitude go to Paul, and to all those at Nuffield Health who have helped to set up this occasion and are developing an ongoing relationship with the school. We hope to hear more about this in the future.

The next lecture in the series is due to be held on Thursday 28th January at 18.30 at The Grove and will be delivered by Mr Gary Fildes who has been instrumental in setting up the Kielder Observatory and spoke at last year’s Prize Day. He is going to speak about his passion for astronomy and it promises to be a great look into the world of the stars. As always, tickets are free and all are welcome to attend.