Joint Statement FSEM & BASEM 22nd October 2021
Formation of The British Association of Sport & Exercise Medicine and The Faculty of Sport & Exercise Medicine Working Group to discuss the formation of a Royal College of Sport & Exercise Medicine (RCSEM) and to consider the impact on the wider landscape of SEM
On 31st March the President of the FSEM and President Elect, were invited to BASEM’s Board meeting to present the Faculty’s plans to form a Royal College. This was on the basis that BASEM’s Memorandum and Articles of Association include; ‘To co-operate with the Faculty of SEM (and other associations) in furthering the speciality of SEM and the aims of the association’.
Following discussions within both FSEM Council and BASEM Board, it has been agreed to form a working group to look at how the two organisations can work more closely together, to further the Faculty’s aspiration of forming a Royal College and to consider the impact on the wider landscape of SEM.
The working group will have four initial actions:
- Clarify the steps required for FSEM to become a Royal College.
- Identify the options for BASEM to support the Faculty.
- Produce clear information about those options and their impact on all practitioners working in any area of SEM, which would be distributed to both organisations’ memberships.
- Consider whether the aims of the two organisations and the aspirations of forming a Royal College could be best served by forming together as a joint organisation – given approval by the members and fellows of both organisations so to do.
We are clear that the working group is not being formed with the aim of merging the two organisations but it will establish the facts around this as a potential organisational structure going forward.
Following these tasks, there would be the opportunity for full and open discussion by members and fellows as to how they wished their organisations to proceed. No decision will, and indeed can, be taken by BASEM and FSEM without ratification by our respective memberships.
The purpose of the working group is to look at the options in order that the facts might be clearly presented to our members so that we might all determine how best to promote all practitioners and working areas related to SEM to our mutual benefit.