MFSEM Written study guide
MFSEM Written · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
MFSEM (Written) is the written paper of the Membership examination of the Faculty of Sports and Exercise Medicine, the postgraduate qualification doctors working in sports and exercise medicine use to demonstrate specialty-level knowledge. It is aimed at physicians in training or in post - sports and exercise medicine trainees, general practitioners with a sport and exercise interest, and clinicians attached to teams, clubs or event medical services - who need to show they can reason across exercise science, musculoskeletal injury, medical problems in athletes, and the operational side of team and event care. The MFSEM Written study guide has 4 sections and about 1,661 words.
01General Principles and Exercise Science
The ATP–PCr (phosphagen) system dominates maximal efforts up to about 10 seconds; anaerobic glycolysis contributes from roughly 10 seconds to 2 minutes; oxidative phosphorylation underpins everything longer and supplies almost all energy at rest and in steady state. In team sports all three overlap, so a question asking for "the predominant system" wants the dominant contributor, not the only one.
342 words, about 2 min02Musculoskeletal Medicine, Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
Use consistent vocabulary: which tissue, which structure, grade and stability. Ligament injuries are graded I–III (sprain, partial tear, complete tear); muscle strains are graded similarly; fractures are described by site, pattern, displacement, angulation, articular involvement and open/closed status.
335 words, about 2 min03Medical Problems in Athletes
Cardiac causes dominate sudden death in athletes. Under 35 years, inherited cardiomyopathies (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in many series, arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy), congenital coronary anomalies, ion channelopathies (long QT, Brugada, CPVT) and myocarditis predominate; over 35, atherosclerotic coronary disease.
307 words, about 2 min04Injury Prevention and Emergencies in Sport
van Mechelen's sequence: establish the extent (incidence, severity), establish aetiology and mechanism, introduce preventive measures, then re-evaluate by repeating step one. Effective programmes are multifactorial and neuromuscular: the FIFA 11+ reduces lower-limb injuries through strength, plyometric, balance and landing-control exercises performed as a warm-up.
677 words, about 3 min