We have the curse of living in exciting times. Sports medicine, for so long an art, is slowly but surely turning into a science. One of the important factors in this is the increased number of clinicians turning to this area as a vocation. In parallel, the development of academic sports medicine departments and the recognition by (some) insurers of the specialist value of sports physicians fosters this process.

How do we progress further? Research, research, research. If sports medicine is to be seen as a viable and valid speciality then there must be an evidence base behind it. This is no different to where, for example, cardiology was 40 years ago or neurology 20 years ago. How do we foster the development of a culture that embraces EBM and recognises the need for research publication? Firstly, those individuals mentoring or supervising other clinicians have a duty to include research into individual performance goals. I am continually told in every county I visit that each person has a pile of cases “ready to write …