First published in 1988 by the founding members of the Surfer’s Medical Association, Surfing Medicine originally served as the primary forum of communication for the SMA. The journal was the first, and remains the only publication dedicated solely to surfer’s health.
Pre-internet era, not only did Surfing Medicine contain scientific articles, but it was how members learned about upcoming conferences, read reports about past conferences, signed up for membership, purchased T-shirts, etc. Between 1988 and 2007 it was mailed twice yearly to all SMA members with a distribution of ~700. Over the years, twenty-four paper editions were published, which can be viewed by SMA members in the archives. Due to the increasing costs of printing and distribution, the journal began transitioning to an on-line format from 2008 to 2012. In 2013 Surfing Medicine became an open access web-based journal and upgraded its software and design.