The statement “… two branches of sports medicine (underwater medicine and aviation medicine)” refers to the academic syllabus in sports medicine. Those areas are, for example, covered in the textbook, Science and Medicine in Sports, and is also included in the curricula of the Sports Medicine Training Programme of both Australia and Singapore.(1,2)


Sports medicine is a broad term that includes even nonclinical areas like the sports sciences. The term ‘sports medicine’ as used in the commentary was not meant to delineate specialty and subspecialty areas in medicine.

Yours sincerely,
Benedict Tan
Department of Sports Medicine, Changi General Hospital, 2 Simei Street 3, Singapore 529889. benedict_tan@cgh.com.sg

REFERENCES
1. Bloomfield J, Fricker PA, Fitch KD, eds. Science and Medicine in Sports. 2nd ed. Australia: Blackwell Science Pte Ltd, 1995.
2. Joint Committee on Specialist Training (Singapore). Scope and Practice of Sports Medicine. In: Sports Medicine Subspecialty Training Programme, 2007 [online]. Available at: http://www.healthprofessionals.gov.sg/content/dam/hprof/sab/docs/forms/Sports%20Med%20Trg%20Guide.pdf. Accessed December 2, 2013.