An ageing population, combined with an uptick in lifestyle-related illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, obesity and heart disease is piling pressure on an already stretched NHS. According to the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities, physical inactivity is associated with one in six deaths in the UK, and costs the UK a staggering £7.4bn each year.

In response to these evolving challenges, sport and exercise medicine is broadening beyond injury rehabilitation and musculoskeletal medicine, and is a becoming a major player in how we tackle the unrelenting public health crisis. There is a surge in demand for qualified practitioners, who can help prevent and manage lifestyle-related health conditions through physical activity, including:

- Strength training programmes for older people, to target issues related to loss of muscle mass or bone density.

- Light exercise and movement plans for people living with obesity or type 2 diabetes.

- Mindful movement to support positive mental health or workplace wellbeing.

Despite chronic inactivity posing a huge threat to public health, we’re seeing an increase in participation at gyms and in sports across the UK, with Sports England reporting that two million more adults are participating in regular sport or physical activity in 2024, than in 2016.

While this trend is encouraging, growing participation is causing more injuries – particularly with the glamorisation of extreme fitness challenges and body transformations across social media. Sport and exercise medicine has an important role here to prevent, manage and treat rising incidences of injury, and to promote healthy and responsible approaches to fitness.

Changes in the world of elite sport are also shifting the focus of sport and exercise medicine. Increased spending has created more opportunities to play sport professionally, leading to intense competition that pushes up standards across the board. Athletes are feeling heightened pressure to optimise performance to keep up, and consequently, more injuries are occurring. Supporting athletes to train safely while achieving their potential will require an increasingly nuanced workforce.

The Sport and Exercise Medicine MSc from Lancaster University has been developed in response to these changes and will train practitioners to support a healthy society for the future. It is a natural evolution of its successful Sport and Exercise Science BSc, and reflects a progressive attitude that combines the strengths of sports and exercise science with relevant topics in medicine, including respiratory medicine, mental health and behavioural change. Delivered by Lancaster Medical School, students will benefit from a hands-on programme taught by experts across a wide range of medical disciplines, using problem-based learning to address real-life scenarios as part of a multidisciplinary team that mirrors the clinical environment.

By embracing a broad application of sport and exercise medicine, Lancaster University is harnessing the power of this fast-evolving discipline to address the full range of physical and mental health needs we face as a society, to produce graduates with the right skills to support health, wellbeing, and sporting achievements for all.

Find out more about this new course on the Lancaster University website: Sport and Exercise Medicine MSc – Lancaster University.