Member Article

Nuffield and NUFC's Dose Of Sporting Medicine

CRYOGENIC treatments, blood tests and GPS performance analysis - ever wondered what a day in the life of Newcastle United FC’s team doctor involved or the physiology behind becoming a top athlete?

Top consultants and physiologists from Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital delivered a mini-series of lectures for students at Newcastle School for Boys this week with the dual purpose of promoting health and wellbeing in teenagers while also presenting different aspects of medicine as potential career opportunities post A Level.

With the Government’s increased focus on developing home-grown medical practitioners across all disciplines, Nuffield’s team of experts delivered aspirational presentations to highlight the different range of careers available within medicine.

Nuffield is the UK’s largest healthcare charity and kick-started its series of talks at the school with Health and Wellbeing Physiologist, Aidan Innes. Aidan’s talk, ‘Health and Wellbeing Conditioning in Young Athletes’ focused on how pupils can implement behavioural change in their sports training regimes to both decrease risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases and achieve optimal health.

Next up was Gavin Watt, one of the leading health and wellbeing physiologists in the country who focused on ‘Mental Health and Wellbeing in 14 to 18 year olds’, taking a wider view on the general health issues associated with teenagers. His presentation focused on the impacts of exercise and nutrition on cognitive function and emotional wellbeing, whilst also covering topics such as sleep physiology and developing good revision techniques.

The lecture series culminated in a talk by Dr Paul Catterson, Newcastle United FC team doctor and host of Nuffield Health Hospital Newcastle’s weekly sports injury clinic. Dr Catterson presented his talk ‘A dose of sporting medicine: The role of medicine in elite sport’ giving an insight into the role of a doctor at a leading sporting institution.

Each specialist also shared advice with their audience including career top tips and health guidance.

Newcastle School for Boys headmaster, David Tickner, said of the events: “It’s invaluable for our students to hear first-hand of the opportunities within medicine from leading experts in their field who are based right here in Newcastle. There is a lot of hard work involved but, as demonstrated by our guest speakers, the results are incredibly rewarding and we’re here to provide our students with the support and framework to achieve greatness in their chosen careers.

“What’s equally important is the ongoing health and wellbeing of our students. As teenagers, their bodies are in continuous development so it’s important they learn processes now which will prepare their bodies, both physically and mentally, for the future. Thanks to the Nuffield team, they now have the basis for that preparation.”

Chris Land, sales and services manager at Nuffield Health Hospital Newcastle, was central to the arranging of the lecture series. He said: “The students of today are our doctors and physiologists of the future, so it’s vital we nurture them now at the start of their career path development.”

Nuffield is the UK’s largest healthcare charity and has two sites in Newcastle – the Nuffield Health Hospital in Jesmond and Nuffield Gym in Gosforth. Nuffield delivers a wide variety of inpatient and outpatient private healthcare treatments and services using the best possible technological facilities.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Nuffield Health Newcastle Hospital .