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Sports Medicine Fellowship Program

Program History

The ACGME accredited and AOSSM/AANA recognized sports medicine fellowship program at Cincinnati SportsMedicine and Orthopaedic Center (CSMOC), directed by Dr. Frank R. Noyes with other distinguished faculty including Drs. Thomas N. Lindenfeld, Marc T. Galloway, Samer S. Hasan, Matthew L. Busam, Mahmoud Almasri, Brian Chilelli, and Michael Palmer is NATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED AS ONE OF THE FINEST POST RESIDENCY, SPORTS MEDICINE SPECIALTY TRAINING EXPERIENCES IN THE UNITED STATES.

Pioneering Sports Medicine

CSMOC was one of the first Centers in the country to offer sports medicine fellowship training and since 1978 has worked to create one of the most comprehensive programs available. Our staff is dedicated to maintaining this high standard of excellence. Over 160 distinguished fellows have graduated from our program and are now in practice environments including private group practice, hospital- based institutions and academic practices.

 

Fellowship Program

Four sports medicine fellowship positions are available to physicians who have completed a five-year or six-year orthopaedic residency program. Physicians who participate in CSMOC’s fellowship program receive extensive experience and training in surgery, clinic, academics, and research. The training is accomplished through busy surgical and clinical practices, cadaver-based bio-skills laboratories, rehabilitation exposure, on-the-field experience, formal weekly teaching conferences, journal clubs, and research projects. Each fellow typically spends two-three days in the clinic, two days in surgery, and two mornings each week in educational conferences.

Structured Program

The highly structured program includes approximately 200 hours of multiple didactic lectures:

  • Sports Medicine
  • Indications and Complications
  • Rehabilitation
  • Anatomy
  • Biomechanics

Evidence Based Medicine

While at the Center, fellows critically review several hundred published articles to provide a sound scientific base and help establish a personal reference library to aid future clinical decision-making in their own practice. The fellowship offers extensive anatomical and bio-skills experience on highly technical and innovative arthroscopic techniques, and complex knee, shoulder, elbow, and ankle.

Additional Info

Detailed information on our sports medicine fellowship can be found below. If you have questions about our program, application, or interview process, please contact:

Teresa Wood at tmwood@mercy.com.

Curriculum

Academics

Academics Experience

The academic curriculum of the fellowship program is designed prior to the start of the academic year. It is comprised of teaching conferences and monthly bioskills anatomy sessions. The weekly teaching conferences include topics on biomechanics, surgical techniques, rehabilitation, sports medicine, injury prevention and performance enhancement. In addition, a monthly journal club and indications conference is held to review and discuss the current sports medicine and arthroscopy literature. Fellows spend between 12 to 14 hours each month in teaching conferences. Lectures are led by a senior staff physician, physical therapist or guest physician who chooses 5-7 articles from the core curriculum to provide a comprehensive analysis of the assigned topic.

Journal Clubs

A sophisticated discussion of publications from current journals, the goals of which include:

  1. Developing skills in critical reading and evaluating orthopaedic literature
  2. Elevating the fellow to a staff leadership role, including responsibility for directing group discussions
  3. Maintaining current knowledge of the literature in order to apply state-of-the-art knowledge to patient care

Indications

Indications conferences consist of case histories presented by the fellows. The cases are discussed at the end of the monthly journal club. This allows for open discussion with staff physicians and fellows regarding alternate treatment options. Goals of the conferences include:

  1. Developing methods for problem-solving in diagnosis and treatment of patients
  2. Developing a total treatment plan for each patient
  3. Sharing treatment plan ideas
  4. Developing skills for putting theory into practice

Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Conferences

Rehabilitation conferences are taught by staff physical therapists. All of Cincinnati SportsMedicine’s rehabilitation staff and physical therapy students are invited to attend, providing an opportunity for interchange between fellows, physical therapists and athletic trainers. Fellows are instructed on how to manage and direct patients after injury and surgery to restore patients to maximal performance in work, sports and other vocations.

Bioskills and Applied Anatomy

This program involves extensive instruction on advanced arthroscopic and open surgical techniques using cadaver joints. Each staff physician provides hands-on instruction on a number of surgical procedures in the operating room to advance the fellow’s surgical skills in a relaxed and educational manner. Each dissection includes a list of goals and pertinent literature concentrated on the assigned topic.

Applied Anatomy Sessions:

  • ACL Reconstruction and Meniscus Repair
  • PCL Reconstruction
  • Elbow Arthroscopy
  • Shoulder Arthroscopy I: Rotator Cuff Repair
  • OAT, Carticel, MACI
  • Open Shoulder Surgery
  • Shoulder Arthroscopy II: Stabilization
  • Ankle Ligament Reconstruction
  • Open Elbow Surgery
  • High Tibial and Femoral Osteotomy

Injury Prevention and Performance Conferences

The goals of these conferences are to teach:

  1. Injury prevention protocols to use in screening athletes to prevent sports-related injuries

  2. Physicians learn how to conduct and interpret muscle strength, endurance, and balance parameters to detect abnormalities requiring specific rehabilitation and performance enhancement

  3. Advanced conditioning, performance, and plyometric protocols to prevent knee injuries and train high school, college and elite athletes to achieve maximum performance

Clinical

Clinical Experience

The clinical experience encompasses the many realms of patient care including the office setting, surgical theater, and on-the-field emergency care of injuries. This component of the fellow’s education turns academic theory into practice. Under the guidance of the staff physician, the fellows learn:

  • Examination and diagnostic techniques
  • The use of clinical research rating systems
  • Effective communication skills
  • Formulation of a defensible diagnosis and treatment plan for patients
  • Evaluation of complex knee, shoulder and revision cases

The Center provides care and treatment to more than 300 patients every week, providing an enormous clinical experience for fellows. The entire realm of sports medicine injuries are evaluated throughout the year. This includes minor sports medicine injuries from local teams to major and complex injuries that have failed prior treatment and are referred from other centers.

Surgical

Surgical Experience

The surgical training experience provides an in-depth, hands-on array of the most advanced orthopaedic techniques available. The surgical experience includes arthroscopic and open reconstructive knee, shoulder, elbow, hip, and ankle procedures. Fellows will gain experience with the following procedures:

  • Arthroscopic knee ligament reconstruction for anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, lateral collateral, and posterolateral ligamentous injuries and ruptures.
  • Arthroscopic and arthroscopically assisted meniscus repairs; meniscus transplantation
  • Cartilage restoration procedures including OAT and MACI
  • MAKO robotic tibio-femoral compartment and patellofemoral partial replacements
  • High tibial and femoral osteotomy
  • Revision and complex knee procedures
  • Arthroscopic procedures of the shoulder including, but not limited to, stabilization, posterior labrum repairs, and rotator cuff repairs.
  • Revision and tendon transfer procedures
  • Arthroscopic and open procedures of the elbow
  • Ankle arthroscopy and reconstruction
  • Articular cartilage resurfacing techniques
  • Total joint replacements of the shoulder (anatomic and reverse ball and socket), hip, and knee.

Fellows are provided with all of the patient records so that a thorough review of the surgical procedure can be performed. The fellow must undertake any reading necessary to be fully knowledgeable about the disorder and surgical techniques.

Sports

Sports Experience

Cincinnati SportsMedicine & Orthopaedic Center was one of the first practices in Cincinnati to provide athletic trainer and physician on-the-field care services for local high schools. Our program, which began in 1975, now works in conjunction with the Outreach Program of Mercy Health and requires the services of many certified athletic trainers and physical therapists to meet the coverage demands of a multitude of local athletic teams and clubs.

Each fellow is assigned to act as the team physician for an area high school during the football season. Fellows conduct weekly training room visits and cover Friday night football games. In addition to coverage during the high school football season, fellows also participate in spring physicals and may have the opportunity to cover other sporting events such as boxing tournaments, wresting tournaments, and local marathon events.

Center physicians provide sports coverage to professional football and soccer players, elite gymnasts, college athletes, high school and recreational athletes. Under the direction of Dr. Marc Galloway, team physician for the Cincinnati Bengals, and Dr. Matthew Busam, Chief Medical Officer for FC Cincinnati MLS, fellows may have the opportunity to gain experience in the treatment of professional athletes.

Research

Research Experience

Each fellow participates in at least one research study that results in a manuscript and submission of a paper for presentation at a national meeting.

During the first month of the fellowship, fellows work with the clinical research manager and staff surgeons to select a project and prepare the research protocol. During the early months of the fellowship, a comprehensive literature review is completed. The fellow also participates defining a focused study hypothesis that can be answered during the yearlong fellowship. The fellow and surgeon work closely with biostatisticians, who are consulted as required during both study design and data analysis phases.

The fellow is asked to complete a first draft of the manuscript near the completion of the academic year. The paper is revised with the staff physician and senior researchers and submitted to a peer-review journal for publication. Often, abstracts are submitted to national meetings of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, or the Arthroscopy Association of North America.

Each year, approximately 350 physicians, physical therapists, athletic trainers, physician assistants, and allied health professionals attend the Advances on the Knee, Shoulder, Hip and Sports Medicine Course held on Hilton Head Island. At this course, fellows present either their research project or another topic that they have studied and researched during their fellowship year.

Support staff offering assistance to fellow research include highly trained, long-term employees noted for expertise in either clinical or laboratory research. Assistance is provided throughout the year in areas of statistical analysis, proper data collection techniques, and technical writing. In addition, fellows receive assistance with presentation materials (PowerPoint, video editing) for conferences. While the fellow is expected to perform the majority of the tasks related to the research project, a staff member is dedicated to each project to ensure that the investigation is properly conducted and completed within a designated timeframe.

Benefits and Application Information

Benefits and Application Information

Annually, our Center grants four fellowships on a competitive basis.
Four fellows are selected each year for the 12-month sports medicine fellowship which begins August 1.

The Center’s ACGME accredited fellowship program participates in the AOSSM/AANA sponsored Match administered by the SF Match Program. Detailed information about the application process can be found at:
http://www.sfmatch.org.

Salary and Benefits:

• Base Salary: $56,000 per year
• Occurrence Malpractice – covered by Mercy Health
• Family health, dental and vision insurance available at employee cost through Mercy Health
• Short and long- term disability insurance available through Mercy Health
• 15 vacation days – includes personal vacation, continuing education and interviews

Schedule an Appointment

When the best matters, call the Cincinnati SportsMedicine and Orthopaedic Center-Mercy Health for all your sports medicine needs.