Next year’s Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games, will take place in Birmingham from 28 July to 8 August 2022.
Volunteer medical staff are of primary importance to the competing athletes and Birmingham 2022 organisers are urging interested radiologists and radiographers to apply.
For 2022, the entire athlete medical provision has been split into only four streams: imaging, medicine, pharmacy and physiotherapy, which shows the importance now being placed on the imaging service.
Provision for Birmingham includes three polyclinics equipped with MRI, ultrasound and X-ray facilities, with the expectation to provide high-quality imaging services throughout the 12-day period of the games.
Each clinic will be made up of highly experienced sports medicine and sports physiotherapy clinicians, many of whom will have worked at the highest levels in team and international sports. Within this infrastructure there is a need for a comprehensive sports medical imaging team of radiology, radiography and sonography volunteers
Radiographer and sonographer volunteers would be required to hold full registration with the Health and Care Professions Council and have current practice, including at least one modality, from ultrasound, MRI and/or plain film.
If you would be interested in working as a radiology volunteer at Birmingham 2022 you can apply directly via the Commonwealth Games website.
Applications are due to close on 17 August 2021. Please be sure to enter the dedicated code MED-SPE to ensure priority for specialist applications, as there are likely to be around 13,000 general applications.
Consultant radiologist Dr Peter Chapman, Medical Imaging advisor to the games, said: ‘In 2014 I took the opportunity to volunteer as a consultant radiologist for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Volunteering for a home games offered an exciting opportunity to work with a highly experienced sports medicine, imaging and sports physiotherapy team from around the UK and to deepen my knowledge of MSK injuries.
‘At a Commonwealth Games you are working with athletes at the highest level, who need a medical imaging team to be working closely with the sports medicine and physiotherapy teams to problem solve and keep them competing at their best.’