The Surfer's Medical Association was founded in 1986 when San Francisco physician Mark Renneker, MD, invited colleagues interested in the health-care aspects of surfing to an inaugural meeting in Fiji at the just opened surfing resort of Tavarua. From that initial small group of founding members, the SMA has grown to several hundred doctors and allied health professionals who surf and treat surfers as patients. An international organization, the SMA has members around the world, with the largest concentrations in California and Australia.

The objectives of the SMA are expressed in terms of waves in a big set:

	The first wave goal is to educate surfers about health issues so that they can spend maximal time surfing and minimal time seeing doctors.
	The second wave goal is to conduct and support research regarding the connection between surfing and health.
	The third wave goal is to represent the activity of surfing in the fields of medicine, health-care and science.
	The fourth wave goal is to teach health-care providers about the unique trauma and disease problems of surfers and how to care for them.
	The fifth wave goal is to create, around the world, a network of surfing health-care professionals and “barefoot doctors”.
	The sixth wave goal is to protect and preserve the surfers’ natural environment including the waves, the ocean and our beaches.

In July of 2006, many of the founding and most active current members met again on Tavarua for the 20th reunion of the Surfer’s Medical Association. Over the past two decades, the following were identified as examples of significant accomplishments of the SMA:

» The establishment of the first worldwide network of surfing health-care professionals.

» The provision of a central referral service for surfers with health problems.

» The publication of Surfing Medicine, the journal of the SMA.

» The convening of dozens of professional and scientific conferences around the world.

» The sponsorship of members’ research about surfer’s health issues.

» The training of surf rescue personnel regarding emergency intervention procedures.

» The provision of direct medical services at surfing contests and remote surf locations.

» The development of effective models for enhancing health in “3rd-world” villages.

» The collaboration with Surfrider Foundation on environmental surf medicine issues.

» The promotion of surfing medicine as a new specialty field of health care.

Anyone who shares the objectives of the Surfer’s Medical Association is welcome to join the organization and contribute to the furthering of these accomplishments.