Choosing a Rewarding Career in Sports Medicine

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness, treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise.

What sort of work is available in sports medicine?
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sports_medicine)

Sports medicine specialists focus on the evaluation and non-surgical care of athletes and other active people. Sports medicine specialists are concerned with all problems -- injury and illness alike - related to athletics and physical fitness. They are especially well suited to care for people with medical problems (for example, asthma, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, or obesity) who wish to begin an exercise program, improve their fitness, and reduce risks to their health.

Sports medicine has always been difficult to define because it is not a single specialty, but an area that involves health care professionals, researchers and educators from a wide variety of disciplines. Its function is not only curative and rehabilitative, but also preventative, which may actually be the most important one of all.

Education:

Few Institutes in India offer courses in Sports Medicine and most of them are for students after MBBS or graduation in Physiotherapy.

Some of the educational institutes for sports medicine are:

1. National Institute of Sports, Sports Authority of India, Affiliated to Baba Farid University of Health Sciences Faridkot and Recognized by MCI)
Two year Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Medicine

2. Sports Authority of India, Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
Masters in Sports Medicine
Ph. No. +91-183-2258802-09 Extn. 3019

3. Netaji Subhas National Institute of Sports - Patiala, Punjab
Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Medicine

4. Susruta Institute Of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh
Master of Physiotheraphy - Sports Medicine and rehabilitation

There are many sporting teams that employ a sports or athletic trainer who assists on a daily basis with basic knowledge in massage, strapping and response to acute sports injuries.

Job prospects:

The term Sports Medicine involves:

• Maintaining an athlete’s fitness and physical well being
• Assessing and treating injured athletes,
• Advising and educating on prevention strategies

Sports medicine career finds its prospects in various setups:

• Hospitals
• Sports Clubs
• Individual teams

Adopting Assam Rifles as Your Choice of Career in Paramilitary Forces of India

The Assam Rifles are one of the Paramilitary forces of India. Since its inception in 1835, over the course of its history, the Assam Rifles and its predecessor units have served in a number of roles, conflicts and theatres including World War I where they served in Europe and the Middle East, and World War II where they served mainly in Burma. In the post World War II period the Assam Rifles has expanded greatly as has its role. (Refer the link - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assam_Rifles)

Assam Rifles conduct counterinsurgency operations in the northeast and other areas where deemed necessary, under control of the army. During peace and ‘proxy war’, ensure the security of the Indo-China and Indo-Myanmar borders. During the war, rear area security in the TBA.
(Refer the link - assamrifles.gov.in/profile.aspx)

Entry: Recruitments for the Assam Rifles is done for various posts:

• Constables
• Havildar (Clerks)
• Medical Officers and Specialist doctors
•  Veterinary Doctors

Eligibility:

For Constables & Clerks:

• Age Limit: Candidates age must be between 18 to 23 years as on 01-08-2013.  Upper age is relaxable by 3 years to OBC and 5 years to SC/ST Candidates.
• Educational Qualifications: Candidates must possess Matriculation or 10th class pass from a recognized board/university.

For Technical Trades:

• Age Limit: Candidates age must be between 18 to 23 years as on 01-08-2012.  Upper age is relaxable by 3 years to OBC and 5 years to SC/ST Candidates.
• Educational Qualifications: Candidates must possess Matric or 10th class pass with Diploma/ITI, English, Math & Science with Physics/ Biology, Graduation with Madhyama in Sanskrit or Bhusan in Hindi.

The recruitment rally consists of three stages:

I. Physical Efficiency Test (PET)

• 5 KM Run. All male candidates have to successfully complete 5 KM run within 24 mins and for female candidates it shall be 1.6 KM (1600 M) within 8 mins 30 secs.
• Long Jump. Long Jump of 11 feet has to be cleared by the male candidates and for female candidates it shall be 9 feet. Each candidate will be given three chances.
• High Jump. High jump of three and a half feet (3.5 feet) has to be cleared by the male candidates while for female candidates it will be three feet. Each candidate will be given three chances.

Note: No physical efficiency test will be conducted for Ex-servicemen.

II. Written Tests

• Written Test. Candidates who qualify in the PETs will be required to appear in a written test.
• The written test will consist of only OMR based objective type multiple choice questions
• Candidates applying under compassionate appointment scheme of the Government will not be required to appear in the written test. (Sons/ legally adopted son during the lifetime of the AR persons who have laid down their life during ops.)

III. Trade Test

• To be conducted for various trades.
• A practical test will be conducted for trade candidates appearing for enrolment.
• To qualify, the candidates will have to pass in the physical, medical and the written tests separately.

Career Advancement: A candidate has the opportunity to grow up till the level of Commandant while in service of Assam Rifles. Officers are appointed by direct appointment by the central Government from other armed forces.

• Director General (Army officer on deputation)
• Inspector General (Army officer on deputation)
• Deputy Inspector General (Army officer on deputation)
• Commandant
• 2IC (Second In Command)
• Deputy Commandant
• Assistant Commandant

Enrich Yourself by Understanding the Deeper Meaning of Career

As language evolves, many words come to take the more popular meaning or rather the meaning of convenience. However over the period the words may lose their depth and come to mean very little to us. The origin of words usually has much deeper meaning and knowing it can enrich us in so many ways.

‘Career’ is one such word that has lost its real value in the transition. For most of us a career means a profession or line of study or work. Nothing is wrong in this meaning but it is incomplete in many ways.

Career is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a person’s course or progress through life. It can also pertain to an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education and is considered to be a person’s lifework 

Even the origin of the word ‘career’ is traced back to Latin ‘carrus’  meaning ‘wheeled vehicle’ that basically symbolizes journey and progress.

Thus career is all about the progress in life. When we take into consideration only the study and profession aspect of career, we develop a warped view towards it. Our focus stills on the options presented to us by the society and our decisions based on the acquiring of degrees and bagging a source of earning.

In reality, choosing a university course only is one step towards the journey of life, which is vast. Most people choose a university degree that seems to be giving them a much accepted professional status and guaranteed income. While zeroing on the course we tend to neglect the most important aspect of choosing the career, the very question: Why do I want to take up a career? While the apparent answer may seem to be about earning a livelihood, if we take a few minutes and ask ourselves another Why? The answer could be easily traced to: I want to be happy! Where does happiness come from? It comes from inner satisfaction, a sense of contentment. We very well know that money alone cannot guarantee that contentment. So isn’t it worth the while to consider this inner satisfaction while choosing our career?

Now our satisfaction is based on many parameters like where we work, where we live, who do we associate with, what is the nature of our work, what are our work hours, what challenges the work has for us, do we enjoy our work, does it align with our life goal, does it give us the opportunities to travel, to grow, to be creative, to invent, to serve, to solve, to change and so many other needs that we have apart from making money?

Choosing a career thus is not just about knowing the employability of that study course. It is about knowing who you are, what you want and what can it give you what you live for. It is a process of exploration. You need to explore yourself and explore the range of career options and then match the career to your needs.