Dr Liesel Geertsema

Dr Liesel Geertsema is a New Zealand trained specialist in Sports Medicine and Fellow of the Australasian College of Sports and Exercise Medicine. She has a special interest in event medical services for large international sports events. She has been a FIFA Medical Officer at World Cup events since 2014 and Chief Medical Officer or Venue Medical Officer at a number of World Cups, World Championships and Professional Tournaments in tennis, athletics, handball, football, cycling and swimming. She is Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and considers herself a generalist sports physician. She has been a national team physician in football, netball, cycling and taekwondo, Winter Olympics, Commonwealth Games and was the Medical Director of BikeNZ for three years. She enjoys kite-surfing, adventure travel and snow sports, which she combined with work when working as a ski patrol doctor for five years, climbing Mt Aconcagua and as expedition doctor on Mt Everest.

Qualifications:
• 2008: FACSP (Fellow of the Australasian College of Sports and Exercise Physicians)
• 2005: PGDipSM (Post-graduate diploma of Sports Medicine, cum laude), University of Otago,
Dunedin, New Zealand
• 1997: M.B.Ch.B. University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

Career Achievements:
• Since 2014: FIFA Medical Officer
• Since 2013 Chief Tournament Physician WTA Qatar Total Open, Doha, Qatar
• 2019: Venue Medical Officer IAAF Athletics World Championships, Doha, Qatar
• 2019, 2018, 2017: Medical Officer IAAF Diamond League, Doha, Qatar
• 2018, 2015, 2014: Venue Medical Officer FINA Swimming World Cup, Doha, Qatar
• 2018, 2013: Tournament Physician in 2018 and Chief Tournament Physician in 2013 ATP Exxon
Mobil Open, Doha, Qatar
• 2017: Official UCI Doctor for the UCI Urban Cycling World Championships, Chengdu China
• 2017, 2004: Venue Medical Officer Rugby Seven’s Tournament, Qatar and New Zealand
• 2015: Venue Medical Officer for IHF Handball World Championships, Doha, Qatar
• 2014: Venue Medical Officer FINA Swimming World Championships, Doha, Qatar
• 2010: New Zealand Team Doctor at the Commonwealth Games, Delhi, India
• 2010: Co-founder of Sports Doctors, a specialist referral Sports Medicine clinic in Christchurch,
New Zealand
• 2010, 2009, 2008: Medical Director of BikeNZ, New Zealand
• 2008: Venue Medical Officer FIFA U/17 WWC, Christchurch, New Zealand
• 2006: New Zealand Medical Team Leader at the Winter Olympic Games, Torino, Italy
• 2004, 2002: Event Doctor Taupo Ironman, New Zealand
• 2002: Expedition Doctor Mt Everest, Nepal
• 2004 – 2008: Team Physician roles – New Zealand Women’s Football, Netball, Cycling, Taekwondo