The Sports Medicine program provides clinical management, educational and outreach activities centered on sports related health issues, with particular emphasis on children and adolescents.
Clinical Program
The Program includes the care of adult and pediatric patients with sports-related problems, including management of orthopedic injuries such as fractures, cartilage and growth plate problems, sprains, strains, tendonitis, concussions and return-to-play issues, exercise-induced asthma, women in sports, nutrition and sports supplements. Special emphasis is on children and adolescents. Pre-sports physicals are provided, as is expert advice on rehabilitation on overuse sports-specific injuries, such as the following examples: Little League shoulder or elbow, Swimmer’s shoulder, Gymnast’s back pain, Jumper’s knee for basketball and volleyball, shin splints in runners, and hip/groin strain in soccer. The program provides advice on sport-readiness and addresses safety concerns for beginning en pointe training for ballet and weight lifting. Patients are seen at the main University of Chicago Medical Center and at the University of Chicago Physicians Group Offices in Matteson.
Education
Educational opportunities are available for medical residents and fellows. The Sports Medicine Selective provides concentrated outpatient exposure to children with common sports-related disorders. Similar experiences are available to fellows from other institutions to join rotations at the University of Chicago. Enhancing this experience, all have the opportunity to work with physical therapists, cast technicians, athletic trainers and orthopedic surgeons. In collaboration with the Section of Rheumatology, there is a musculoskeletal selective which combined rheumatology, orthopedics, podiatry and sports medicine.
Annually we present a national CME program entitled Current Concepts in Primary Care Sports Medicine. In conjunction with the Illinois Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, we provide educational materials on pediatric sports medicine (www.illinoisaap.org). Through national Sports Shorts program of the American Academy of Pediatrics, our program provides the educational materials for physicians, allied health providers, parents and coaches through the following website: http://www.aap.org/family/sportsshort.htm.
Research
In collaboration with Dr. Deborah Burnet in the Department of Medicine, we are pursuing a multidisciplinary study which incorporates nutrition and physical activity in an educational practical model to treat obesity in a community-based setting. A second research program is through a collaboration with Dr. Cynthia Mears at Children’s Memorial Hospital for a study entitled Making an IMPACT at Illinois Schools: Increasing Movement and Physical Activity through Community-based Teams (IMPACT).
Visit the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital web site for more information about our pediatric sports medicine services.
