Sports Medicine Service

Under the direction of the newly appointed Chief, Dr. Matthew T. Provencher, the MGH Sports Medicine Service is entering a new era of growth. The Sports Medicine Service continues to strive for excellence in the clinical care of sports-related conditions, utilizing a comprehensive patient-centric approach. The cornerstones of the sports division are: excellence in clinical care, dedication to medical education of students, residents and fellows, as well as producing meaningful research that directly benefits the care of our patients. The Sports Medicine Service is comprised of multiple disciplines including non-operative sports providers, an expert sports-specific physical therapy and training team, and sports surgeons with expertise in shoulder, elbow, hip, knee, and foot and ankle surgery. In addition, the Sports Medicine Service has established extensive collaborations throughout the MGH network to provide high-end concussion care, hospital-based therapy and inpatient services, as well as nutrition and performance enhancement.

A dedication to team coverage is a large component of the MGH Sports Medicine Service. Currently, the Service is the primary provider for four professional teams: the Bruins (hockey), Patriots (football), Red Sox (baseball), and Revolution (soccer), as well as other local colleges (Curry and Suffolk), local high schools, and a wide range of local and community events (from the Boston Marathon to Pro-Am golf tournaments).

The Sports Medicine Service currently has locations downtown at MGH, in Waltham at MGH West, and at MGH Foxboro. The team is looking to expand geographic offerings to other locations in the greater Boston area, in keeping with the patient-centric focus on care. The Sports Performance Center, located at MGH Foxboro, has continued to grow in both patient evaluations and visits, and has also generated important research in gait and throwing characteristics.

The Sports Medicine Research program remains very productive with multiple studies including “biomechanical analysis of different posterolateral corner reconstruction techniques,” tissue engineering studies to evaluate the effect of cartilage ablation using radio frequency energy, clinical outcome studies to evaluate the effect of the patient’s age on ACL outcomes, and concussion studies to evaluate academic performance of high school football players after a concussion injury.

The Sports Medicine Physical Therapy Team, under the direction of Scott Waugh, P.T., has continued to grow both clinically and academically. The therapy and training team offers high-caliber sports-centric physical therapy for both non-operative and postoperative patients, and in partnership with Northeastern University, educates and trains future therapists. The therapy team is currently developing a dedicated educational and research curriculum, which will serve as the cornerstone of a future sports physical therapy residency and fellowship program.

MGH Sports hosted a number of high caliber visiting faculty speakers from around the world during this academic year. Speakers included Dr. Brian Cole from Rush University, who discussed the evolution of treatments of cartilage disorders of the knee, and Dr. Constance R. Chu from Stanford University, who discussed prevention of osteoarthritis. A number of hands-on cadaveric and plastic model labs complemented the educational curriculum where national experts provided dissection and procedure-specific training for students, residents and fellows.

The MGH Sports Medicine fellowship continues to thrive. The match process for fellows starting in 2014 recruited one of the best fellowship classes to date. Under Dr. Luke Oh, interim director, the sports fellowship provides world-class education in sports medicine and surgery, and all fellows work synergistically with the Shoulder Division under the direction of Dr. Jon J.P. Warner. In addition, our fellows will continue to have high-level exposure to disorders of the knee, foot and ankle, as well as sports medicine injuries, with future plans for hip arthroscopy and joint preservation exposure.

The MGH Sports Medicine Service garnered a number of recent honors. Numerous doctors on the service were recognized as Top Doctors in America by US News & World Report, Boston Super Doctors, and Patients’ Choice Awards. Dr. Art Boland received the prestigious Brady Award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) for his many years of service to Harvard University Athletics. This award recognizes a physician who has best exemplified extraordinary care of an athletic team. In addition, Dr. Boland was recognized by the Arthritis Foundation with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 for his work related to prevention and care of degenerative joint conditions.

Members of our faculty are highly sought after as Visiting Professor lecturers. This past year Dr. Thomas J. Gill IV spoke at UT Southwestern in Dallas and Dr. Luke Oh spoke at the Biennial Shoulder and Elbow Course in Germany. In addition, Dr. Bertram Zarins recently spoke at UCLA, the Republic of Georgia Orthopaedic Society, and delivered one of the keynote addresses at the Japanese Orthopaedic Association. Dr. Matthew Provencher recently completed the prestigious AOA-ABC Traveling Fellowship, lecturing extensively at 15 different locations in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

Combined, the Sports Team published 36 peer-reviewed papers in the last academic year, delivered more than 80 national and international presentations, published two textbooks, and delivered six Visiting Professorships throughout the country.