5 Oct 2009
The FIA appoints Chief Medical Officer
"I would like to see a personal trainer linked in with every general practice in the country; says John Searle, The Fitness Industry Association’s (FIA) newly appointed Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
Searle will spearhead the industry's healthcare sector engagement campaign and has been tasked with raising the medical community's awareness of the role the health and fitness sector can play in both prevention and remedial strategies.
A former consultant anaesthetist and director of intensive care at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, he was awarded the OBE in 1998, for services to medicine and the Hospice Movement.
Searle became a REPs-accredited fitness trainer following his retirement.
Searle revealed his belief that exercise can be used to benefit healthcare stems from his own experience of using a personal trainer to help tackle the effects of acute rheumatoid arthritis.
Searle said: "General practices have doctors, they have practice nurses, physiotherapists and counsellors – why not have a personal trainer?"
He added that after suffering from acute rheumatoid arthritis, Searle himself turned to a personal trainer whose help "transformed his life".
"The arthritis affected all my joints," Searle said. "At times I was unable to have more than four hours of uninterrupted sleep."
"Within about eight weeks of my first session with a personal trainer, I was completely symptom-free. I had no joint pain and stiffness and my energy levels had improved enormously. I now enjoy uninterrupted sleep and bounce out of bed every morning."
David Stalker, chief operating officer of FIA, said: "John's ability to straddle the medical and fitness sectors makes him the perfect candidate for our newly created CMO position.
"The fact that he combines his professional understanding of the value of exercise with a deep personal experience of its profound benefits means that we have an ambassador who can 'sell us' intellectually and passionately."
