ORTHOPEDIC SPORTS MEDICINE FELLOWSHIP The Orthopedic Sports Medicine Fellowship at Houston Methodist is unique based on its high clinical volume and “hands-on” teaching experience in the clinic and on the field.
The primary care sports medicine fellowship provides a broader understanding of the unique needs of the athletic population – setting a precedent in sports medicine training. Dr. David Braunreiter, MD, CAQSM Director, Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital
“We believe that sports medicine is about more than just arthroscopic surgery,” says David Lintner, MD, chief of sports medicine at Houston Methodist Hospital. “Our fellows have huge clinical and surgical volumes. They also cover games and practices for professional and college teams, and spend almost as much time in the training room and on the field as they do in surgery and clinic. Sports medicine is about helping athletes realize their full potential on the field.”
PRIMARY CARE SPORTS MEDICINE FELLOWSHIP This one-year fellowship provides fellows in certain specialties, such as internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine and physical medicine/ rehabilitation, with a broader understanding of the unique needs of the athletic population – setting a precedent in sports medicine training. The fellowship operates out of two hospitals in the Houston Methodist system – Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital and Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital – and is academically attached to the Houston Methodist Family Medicine Residency Program. “Although the primary care sports medicine physicians are under the Department of Orthopedics, our fellowship emphasizes care of the whole athlete,” says Scott Rand, MD, FAAFP, CAQSM, director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Willowbrook Hospital. More than half of the fellowship training focuses on non-musculoskeletal medical problems in athletes such as metabolic issues, heart screenings, asthma,
concussion management, altitude medicine and medical problems in endurance athletes. Primary care sports medicine is about providing the right care at the right time from the right provider for athletes of all sports. One such example is concussion management which requires more study in the field of neurology than a orthopedist would normally pursue. “We see between three and six concussion patients a day, so we develop the expertise to appropriately treat concussion given this volume. This includes treating the initial injury and understanding sport-specific issues that can influence crucial return-to-play decisions,” says David A. Braunreiter, MD, CAQSM, director of the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. “This specialty and our fellowship specialize in a population of people, not a specific disease process,” says Dr. Rand. “Athletes typically don’t like to go to the doctor, because they are generally healthy and know a lot about their own body. So we seek the appropriate treatment, which doesn’t always mean surgery. Athletes just want to get fixed when they are broken and become better athletes, and that’s what we help them do.”
PHYSICAL THERAPY RESIDENCY The physical therapy residency is an APTA-credentialed post-professional residency for physical therapists who want to become a board certified sports physical therapist. “In addition to caring for patients in the clinic, our PT residents also participate in structured learning with the orthopedic surgeons and fellows. We have weekly hands-on training on specific topics, including the cadaver lab at MITIE ®. However, they are also covering sporting events out in the fields and on the courts, which are integrated with the athletic trainers and physicians,” says Matt Holland, PT, CSCS, director of the Physical Therapy Residency Program.