Sports Medicine Fellowship Program

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 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 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 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

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