Games for medics

It’s not just professional athletes who have their own Olympic spectacle. Nadeeja Koralage finds out about the World Medical and Health Games, otherwise known as the Medigames

No red wine or cigarettes for me, thanks

The French were playing the Germans in the football semifinals. During the half time break, the French team were lying down on the grass, having a smoke with a bottle of red wine. Meanwhile the German team were working themselves up with pep talks and saying ‘We have to do this!’ The ref’s whistle blew for the second half and the French picked themselves up off the grass and ran onto the pitch with the Germans. Not surprisingly, the German team won ….”

Phil Heaton-Adegbile, orthopaedic surgeon and researcher (and five times gold medal winner) in the United Kingdom, is talking about a relaxed match between hospital workers at the 2001 World Medical and Health Games (known as the Medigames) in Evian, France.

The background

This annual event has been going since 1978 and is an “Olympic” competition for the health profession. The games were set up after research showed that practising sport occupied around 35% of health workers’ free time, with many people in medical-sports clubs around the world.

Each year, entrants choose from more than 20 sports, the most popular being football, athletics, the semimarathon, golf, cycling, tennis, and swimming, but also including volleyball, the triathlon, and even chess. With no qualifying heats or selection process, the competition is open to anyone, including amateur athletes, in spite of the competition’s international standards. Athletes compete within their age group, and since 1978 more than 50 countries have participated.

Although the Medigames do not attract many spectators from outside the medical profession, the competitors who come tend to return and form friendships with other competitors. A strong emphasis lies on socialising and creating lasting international links.

The Medigames are twinned with the international symposium of sports medicine, which is held simultaneously to make it easier to attend. This year’s themes included medical care in high performance sports, acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine in sports, weight control for the high performance athlete, and doping.

Speaking at a press conference, the symposium’s chair and president of the Latin groups for sports medicine, Professor Francisque Commandré, said: “This symposium draws a parallel between the most recent scientific data regarding medicine and the sporting exploits of paramedical professionals. This competitive gesture is exemplary, and it should encourage us all to be more active in our sedentary, overfed, stressed world. Activity favours wellbeing.”

Location, location, location

Muriel Fresneau, Medigames spokesperson, said, “There were two major problems at the beginning, which there still are after 25 years of existence. The first one concerns the communication around the event. Keep in mind that the event is open to all members of medical professions from all over the world. This means we have to reach a huge number of people.

“The second difficulty is the search for a city able to hold the World Medical and Health Games. The host city must offer numerous sports facilities.”

The Medigames require at least 10 football stadiums, an Olympic swimming pool, a few golf courses and an athletics stadium, as well as appropriate accommodation. This is all funded by subscription fees and sponsorship.

This year

Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany was decided on as this year’s location because of its facilities and sports heritage. The city is located at the foot of the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany, which is a popular destination for lovers of winter sports.

Four thousand doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, porters, and other health workers from more than 45 countries competed to win a medal.

Students in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Charles Hubert, first year medical student at the University of Lille, competed, and won gold, in the cycling event this year: “It wasn’t my objective to win, as I had been busy with exams and didn’t have the time to train properly. So I wasn’t nervous, but then I became first in my category and felt obliged to defend my ranking.”

Charles’s experience has made him determined to return year after year: “The race was marvellous, every day I met the same people and so made a lot of friends. There was a really good atmosphere among the competitors.”

This year, competing students also came from Italy, Germany, Algeria, Austria, Canada, Belgium, and Slovenia. Student turnout is hoped to increase next year—with no qualifying heats or selection process, the competition is open to athletes of all levels.

Phil Heaton-Adegbile made his fifth appearance, taking home a gold medal for the 100 metres, a silver medal for his 100 metre relay team, and a bronze medal for the 200 metres.

“I enjoy the athletic track events. I attempted the 400 metres once but was quite badly beaten,” he says, modestly.

His first visit to the games was in 2000, when it was held in Cannes: “This was a great experience, as I won the gold medal in the 100 metres. I then went to the 2001 games in Evian, the 2002 games in Balaton, Hungary, and the 2003 games in Stirling, Scotland.

Before the competition, he trained twice a week on his speed and did strength building exercises in the gym, in spite of a hamstring injury:

“Training is great for unwinding after a long operating list, and it makes you alert for your outpatient clinics the next morning.”

He added, “It really is a brilliant experience to meet people from all over the world with the same stresses as you. It’s a very good opportunity to meet with colleges. We exchange work practices, ideas and research.”

Sporting attitudes

Very few people have so far attended the games from the United Kingdom, even when they were held in Stirling.

This year, only 13 UK participants attended the games, as well as a football team that was sent along from Liverpool. The 11 a side team came 12th (out of 16), after being beaten by teams from Italy, Algeria, Slovenia, Belgium, Germany, and Spain.

Phil Heaton-Adegbile thinks the British attitude is to blame: “In the United Kingdom we rarely take sport seriously. At job interviews, for example, people tend to disregard these types of achievements. But sport makes a significant contribution to a person’s well being and self development.”

International approaches

International approaches to the games are very different. Entrants from some countries, for example, Chile, will have their full sponsorship paid for by their employers, but this is unheard of in the United Kingdom. Seemingly, French final year medical students are keen to win as medal winners are rumoured to have a better chance of getting their desired rotation. The competitive nature of the games mirrors that of medicine, but the World Medical and Health Games maintain a friendly, accessible atmosphere.

Sport in a hectic lifestyle

Many medical schools have their own sports clubs, be it for rowing, rugby, or football. Standards are often very high, as the traditional element that remains in medical schools encourages sports a great deal.

This is a sentiment that Phil Heaton-Adegbile agrees with: “If you ask around in the medical profession, from consultants to students, you find people who have played sport to a very high level. For example, one of the consultants I work with played rugby for his country before he went to medical school. But with medicine, your life becomes full of work and it’s easy to forget that a social life and exercise are just as important.

“The Medigames have really affected my career. I met a German researcher one year, who had done a lot more research than I had, and had more papers published. He said, ‘The reason why we manage to get more research done in Germany is that our hours aren’t as long as yours, so we have the time.’ That insight was what made me decide to split my time between the lab and the hospital.”

The Medigames, 2005

Although this year’s competition is just over, the organisation for the 2005 games is already under way. For the thousands of doctors, porters, nurses, pharmacists, and other health workers all over the world, who will spend the next year pushing their bodies to the limits through training, judgment day will come in Alicante, Spain, where the 26th World Medical and Health Games will be held in early July.

Further information

If you want to find out more, or take part in next year’s games, see www.medigames.com

Nadeeja Koralage, fourth year medical student, Royal Free and University College London
Email: nkoralage@yahoo.co.uk


studentBMJ 2004;12:349-392 October ISSN 0966-6494