Sports medicine is a rapidly expanding field that includes people from diverse disciplines collaborating to bolster athlete health and performance. Aspetar is an interdisciplinary sports medicine melting pot. Here, people from more than 70 different nationalities combine their knowledge and passion with their unique cultural treasures to create a vibrant sports medicine ecosystem to care for athletes.    

Qatar – although geographically small – has a very big sporting heart. Not only has Qatar mastered the unique ability to stage huge word class sporting events (like the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and World Athletics Championships in 2019), but Qatar has also perfected the art of turning these events into truly spectacular experiences for everyone. Who will ever forget the thrilling France vs Argentina FIFA World Cup final at Lusail stadium on 18 December 2022!    

Aspetar has been central to the medical services of all these events. And more. Aspetar employs more than 500 sports medicine clinicians and scientists who collectively publish more than 100 papers in peer reviewed scientific journals – every year. Not only do we publish, but we also collaborate. The hospital is an accredited FIFA and AFC Centre of Excellence and one of 11 International Olympic Committee accredited research centres for the prevention of injury and illness.

For this first Aspetar World Conference (and the pre/post conference workshops – more than 15 in total!) we combine Aspetar’s in-house sports medicine expertise with that of our worldwide network of collaborating expert-friends. This unique conference has something for everyone! From sport and exercise medicine, sports nursing, sports dentistry and sports pharmacy to sports surgery, sports cardiology, extreme sports medicine and injury rehabilitation. We will stage 18 keynote lectures and 40 topic-specific sessions in five parallel-running streams (including a free communications stream). Topics include the latest evidence on anterior cruciate ligament injury management, artificial intelligence and wearables, orthobiologics, shock wave therapy and periodic athlete health assessment – and much more!   

In sum, this is a once-in-a-lifetime conference. No doubt: you will learn a lot, connect with peers from many different disciplines and nations, and foster productive and lifelong collaborations and friendships. But above all, you will experience the unique sports medicine heart of Aspetar and Qatar. Thank you for joining us – you are now part of sports medicine history.

Dr. Paul Dijkstra
Chair of the Scientific Committee