A South African Trek

Deputy Editor Jim MacDonald with Co-Presenters at IFSEMC, Winile Mothsoane (Left) and Phatho Zondi (center)

I’m coming off one of the most exceptional experiences of my professional life, and I want to share the good news about sports & exercise medicine in southern Africa.

A week ago, I was in Pretoria South Africa at the International Festival of Sports, Exercise and Medicine Conference (IFSEMC).  I was sponsored by one of CJSM’s Affiliated Societies — the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM).

The AMSSM has been gracious enough to sponsor me in the past when I traveled in 2015 to South Africa to attend the South African Sports Medicine Association (SASMA) biennial conference.  I wrote about that experience in this same blog seven years ago.

On this visit, the conference was a true festival — a joint venture put on by SASMA, the Biokinetics Association of South Africa (BASA), the African Physical Activity Network and The South African Society of Biomechanics.

There is still so much I am processing from this visit, but I’d like to share with you some of the highlights after first encouraging you to do these things:

a) pencil in October 2024 in your calendar.  You must make an effort to come down to Cape Town for the upcoming biennial SASMA conference (dates and agenda full to be determined);

b) follow SASMA and BASA on Twitter if you don’t already; you’ll learn so much.

Now, a few of those highlights. Read more of this post