Dr’s Stefano Della Villa and Cristiano Eirale on sports medicine practice in Italy (and Qatar)

As part of the series of podcasts highlighting the best of sports medicine the world over, Dr Stefano Della Villa shares a very successful model of sports medicine clinical care in Italy; Cristiano Eirale comments on his experiences in Italy and for the last 6 years in Qatar. Both sports physicians have tremendous football experience but a focus of the podcast is delivery of clinical care - the patient journey in setting a multidisciplinary clinical setting. Dr Della Villa highlights the ‘case manager’ role of the sports physician and this model has been critical in the Isokinetic clinics in Italy. The Isokinetic Medical Group, established in 1987, is a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence. The headquarters and the very substantial Education and Research Department, directed by Professor Giulio Sergio Roi, are located in Bologna, with other outpatient clinics located in Rome, Milan, Turin, Verona and Rimini. The group has now expanded to Harley Street in London. Dr Eirale was the first sports physician recruited to Aspetar - Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital and he has witnessed not just the building of a massive state-of-the art hospital but the emergence of a new focus of sports medicine excellence in the Gulf Region. Those of you who appreciate the Italian language will enjoy Dr Della Villa being interviewed by Dr Eirale about other topics in the first Italian language podcast in the BMJ Grouphttp://bit.ly/15T7NCK.