Revalidation in sport and exercise medicine: a UK perspective.

80 Br J Sports Med February 2011 Vol 45 No 2 involve more formal periodic recognition of their annual appraisal, audit activity and any multisource feedback. It is not clear at the moment what minimum percentage of one’s job plan will constitute being assessed as a Sport and Exercise doctor, but the authors consider it likely to be in excess of 50%. Revalidation will not be introduced with a ‘big bang’, but rather sequentially starting in 2011, with an early emphasis on ‘quick wins,’ that is, those doctors for whom revalidation and the associated processes may be achieved relatively painlessly. Thus, for many doctors employed in NHS Trusts and other larger organisations, one might expect this process to proceed relatively quickly and uneventfully. For Sport and Exercise Medicine doctors, however, the situation is somewhat more complicated, as many work outside the NHS, large private hospital groups or other organisations that might provide a Responsible Offi cer. The precise roles and workings of Responsible Offi cer have yet to clarifi ed; however, it is expected that each licensed doctor will be linked to a named Responsible Offi cer who will vouch that a doctor is practising to the appropriate professional standards and that there are no signifi cant unresolved issues. Thus, Royal Colleges and Faculties will be drawing up a set of specialty specifi c standards and providing guidance as to the information required to demonstrate that a doctor is meeting those specialty specifi c standards (linked to the generic standards of practice as detailed in Good Medical Practice3). The process of revalidation is designed not as a fi ve-yearly hurdle but rather as an acknowledgement of continued good practice. The central elements required for recertifi cation will be an approved annual appraisal, evidence of ongoing audit of practice and a form of multisource feedback from both patients and staff. Unlike in North America, it is highly unlikely that this process will involve an examination (of knowledge), as this is unlikely to demonstrate that an Revalidation in Sport and Exercise Medicine: a UK perspective Mark E Batt,1 Rod D Jaques2