Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Tokyo Olympics Committee is recruiting 200 sports medicine doctors without pay

The setting sun shining on the Olympic rings.
Shinjuku, Tokyo, Photo by Masahiro Ogawa

    The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Committee needs sports medicine doctors on call for sickbays in different venues during the games. They announced that they are recruiting about 200 sports medicine doctors through the Japan Sport Association (JSPO) on May 3. According to the recruitment guidelines, there will be compensation for travel expenses, but the work is voluntary and without any recompense.

    Sports medicine doctors are licensed physicians with four years of experience and have undergone training under the JSPO. They support athletes by providing healthcare services, examining injuries, and administering treatment at venues as Olympic team doctors.

　Their list of duties include: first aid for heat stroke, treating injuries and illnesses, and handling people who might have contracted the COVID-19 virus. Doctors are expected to work for about three days, but they can also join for five days or more during the Olympics or the Paralympics. Each shift will be about nine hours. Applications are open until May 14.

　Initially, it was estimated that about 10,000 medical staff will be needed for the Olympics. According to sources from the government, stadiums and the Olympic village will need approximately 300 doctors and 400 nurses for each day. The Olympic Committee sent a request for hiring 500 nurses to the Japanese Nursing Association in April.

　People on social media expressed their criticisms about hiring doctors without pay during the resurgence of COVID-19 when the healthcare system is already strained. Some comments posted were: "Our hospitals right now are understaffed and underpaid, how can you ask them to work without compensation?" "The pandemic response is too slow!"

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