A national CME and Workshop on Sports Physiology was organised at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences under the aegis of the Department of Physiology on 10th of January, 2020. Eminent guest speakers from reputed institutes across the country enlightened the participants with their expertise. The programme commenced with a traditional welcome of the dignitaries and lighting of the ceremonial lamp followed by a hearty welcome address delivered to the gathering by Dr. AM Mehendale (HOD of Community Medicine and Officiating Dean of the institute).
Dr Ruchi Kothari (Associate Professor of Physiology and the Organizing Secretary of the event) introduced the theme and objectives of the workshop. She mentioned that Sports physiology is a recent outlet emanating from the discipline of exercise physiology that encompasses application of its concepts not only to training athletes and enhancing sports performance but its clinical subcomponent involves use of its principles, knowledge and skills for purposes of the cardiac rehabilitation or assessing the risk of cardiovascular disease or accidental disability in humans. Following this, began the scientific session with Dr Ramji Singh (Professor and Head, AIIMS, Patna) who had been the former Professor & Head of Physiology at MGIMS. He gave an overview on Sports Physiology and highlighted its Clinical applications in medical practice. Dr KK Deepak (Professor and Head, AIIMS, Delhi) who had set up the First Autonomic Function Lab of the country, highlighted the intricacies of autonomic regulation of the heart during exercise and stress. Dr SenthilKumar Subramanian (Exercise Physiology Expert, AIIMS, Manglagiri, Andhra Pradesh) provided an insight to importance of Heart Rate Variability in Training athletes as well as non-athletes. This was ensued by Dr Jean Fredrick’s (Asistant Professor of Physiology, MGMCRI, Puducherry) addressed Exercise as Medicine and a Prescription to healthy life. Dr Devashsis Barick (Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, NKPSIMS, Nagpur), a National level badminton and football player himself briefed the audience regarding the sports injuries and the orthopaedic rehabilitation exemplifying renowned cricketers, athletes and sportspersons in the context.
95 delegates from all nooks and corners of the country attended the workshop. The highlights of post-lunch Hands-on session conducted by Dr. Ruchi Kothari and her sports physiology team included fitness measurements upon treadmill exercise, estimation of handgrip strength and galvanic skin response recording. This session aimed at sensitizing the delegates towards the advances in bridging technology, sports and medicine. The workshop ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Dr Pradeep Bokariya, Associate Professor of Anatomy and also the treasurer of the workshop.