New role fit for purpose
Sport doctor kicking goals
A Cairns doctor who has helped treat the Australian swimming team has been appointed to a first of its kind position at Cairns Hospital.
Dr Kira James has taken on the new role as a staff specialist in sport and exercise medicine in the hospital’s orthopaedic department.
It is the first time a sport and exercise physician has been employed within the public system in Queensland.
Dr James is a team doctor for the Australian swimming team and has also worked for the Australian men’s water polo team and the Young Matildas football team.
She said with Cairns increasingly being seen as an international sports training destination it was important to have more sport health professionals in the region.
“I’m going to the world athletics championships in Budapest later this year and the team have previously used Cairns as a training base before the Tokyo Olympics,” she said.
“As Queensland works towards the Brisbane Olympics Games in 2032, there’s going to be more demand for this service here.”
Dr James and her new hospital clinic will focus on treating patients’ acute soft tissue injuries such as ankle sprains, shoulder dislocations and stress fractures.
The clinic will also treat patients with chronic injuries such as osteoarthritis.
Dr James said patients do not need to be athletes to be treated at the clinic.
“Whether you have injured yourself mowing the lawn or (running) a long distance marathon, we want to be able to help you,” she said.
“We love our weekend warriors as much as our elite sportspeople.
“We want to keep you active, because we want to change our population to a more active population.”
Dr James said the position would also help to reduce waiting lists.
“A lot of patients we will be seeing will benefit from specialist opinions, but will not require surgery,” she said.
“They need a diagnosis, and they need allied health input such as physio.
“Our aim is to get these patients seen as soon as possible, so they are not on a waiting list, and get them the help they need so they can be active again.”