International Team Physician Courses

ACSM Faculty with Dr. Jon Patricios (Host) & the Rugy World Cup: L to R – Dr. Mark Hutchinson, Dr. Doug McKeag, Dr. Jon Patricios, Dr. PZ Pearce, Dr. Joel Press and Dr. Susan Carter

The 2009 meeting was hosted by Johannesburg, South Africa at the Sandton Convention Centre from 12-15 February.  532 delegates from 14 different countries attended. The meeting, superbly hosted by Dr. Jon Patricios, was well supported by the pharmaceutical industry and sports medicine fraternity who complemented the outstanding presentations with a wonderful trade exhibition. The event was opened with an excellent address by Dr. Tim Noakes who then presented the ACSM faculty with Bafana Bafana (South Africa's National Soccer Team) shirts in commemoration of the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup to be hosted in South Africa.

The overseas faculty from the ACSM was lead by Dr. PZ Pearce and included Dr. Mark Hutchinson, Dr. Joel Press, and Dr. Doug McKeag. In total, this experienced panel covered 28 topics ranging from fieldside care and sports traumatology to care of specific sporting populations. Dr. Susan Carter also presented an excellent workshop on the Female Athletic Triad.  The ACSM contingent was joined by Dr. Dalius Barkauskas, a Lithuanian sports physician with experience from 6 Olympic Games, who presented a series of workshops and lectures integrating orthodox sports medicine with naturopathic therapies.  A number of prominent local speakers presented lectures of equivalent quality to their overseas colleagues, including Dr. Mark Ferguson, Dr. Ralph Posner, Dr. Demitri Constantinou, Dr. Glen Hagemann, Dr. Sello Motaung, Ron Veenis, Simon Lawson, Sean Pincus, Janine Hugo, and Estelle Watson.

Feedback from local and overseas delegates has been overwhelmingly favorable. The 2009 ITPC was an excellent example of collaboration between international and local expertise and a wonderful learning experience for all, hopefully to be repeated.

ACSM Faculty with Dr. Andrea Arruda

The 2009 Team Physician Course Part II was held in Sao Paulo, Brazil in October. The event was attended by more than 100 orthopedic surgeons and other sports medicine physicians. This is especially noteworthy because, in Brazil, only medical doctors can attend medical conferences and to get 100 physicians to a highly specialized conference is unusual.

Our Brazilian hosts were Andre Pedrinelli, MD, FASCM and Andrea Arruda, MD. Drs Pedrinelli and Arruda worked tirelessly to ensure a successful program and to make our trip enjoyable. This year, more of the program was taught by Brazilian doctors as Brazil develops its sports medicine teaching network. Our goals are to establish the ACSM Team Physician Course as an international experience that can be taught around the world.

The 6 physicians from North America representing ACSM were Pierre d’Hemecourt, MD, FASCM, Mary Lloyd Ireland, MD, FASCM, Anthony Luke, MD, FASCM, Steven Simons, MD, FASCM, Merrilee Zetaruk, MD and Peter Gerbino, MD, FACSM (Chair).

Drs. Pedrinelli and Arruda plan on repeating Part I in 2010.  The goal is to establish a 2-year cycle as popularity grows and eventually give Team Physician Courses annually.

           2008 ITPC Faculty & Organizers

The 2008 ITPC was held on July 23-25 in Santiago, Chile.  ACSM faculty included Margot Putukian, M.D., FACSM (serving as chair) along with Cindy Chang, M.D., FACSM, Bert Fields, MD, and Lisa Lattanza, M.D.  Host organizers included:  Fernando Gonzalez, M.D., Alejandro Opazo and Marcella Torres.  The hosts were very gracious to the faculty, taking them on tours of their clinic, the city, and local markets.  Dr. Putukian stated, “the generosity and absolute hospitality of our hosts is hard to acknowledge in words as it was well above and beyond all expectations.”    The conference was very well organized and ran concurrently with another set of sessions for allied health providers.  There were approximately 250 participants, the majority of these (75%) were orthopedic surgeons, with the remainder being cardiologists, neurologists, primary care physicians, nutritionists, physical education teachers, and physiotherapists.  The breakout sessions were exciting and interactive, and all sessions were well attended with lively discussions following each session.

The host lecture given by Dr. Fernando Gonzalez; “The Role of Growth Factors in Musculoskeletal Injury,” was a high quality presentation which provided some cutting edge information and was one of the highlights of the conference.

The success of 2008 International Team Physician Course was in part due to a very committed faculty that worked especially hard at delivering a high level course, but also in part due to the tremendous hosts.  The facilities were beautiful, the participants were involved and invested and the feedback faculty received throughout the course was very positive.  The ACSM faculty made many new friends and colleagues, and represented ACSM well in this international initiative.

Pictured above (left to right):  Peter Gerbino, MD, FACSM (Faculty); Sandra Hoffmann, MD, FACSM (Course Chair); Dr. Pedro Morales (Course Host); Margot Putukian, MD, FACSM (Faculty); and Mark Bouchard, MD, FACSM (Faculty)

The 8^th International Team Physician Course was held in Monterrey, Mexico on November 20-22 2006.  The Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon and Dr. Pedro Morales hosted the course.  Faculty members included: Sandra Hoffmann, MD, FACSM (Course Chair); Mark Bouchard, MD, FACSM; Peter Gerbino, MD, FACSM; and Margot Putukian, MD, FACSM.  A small but enthusiastic group of students, residents, and practicing physicians listened intently during the three day course, which was followed by a special post course on soccer.  The first day of the course focused on the role of the team physician as well as being prepared for possible catastrophic sports emergencies such as head or cervical spine injuries.  The second day was spent primarily on joint specific problems such as the knee and shoulder.  Hands-on workshops led by the faculty allowed the students to focus on their physical exam skills.  The remainder of the course was spent on medical issues in sports, the role of exercise in treatment and prevention of chronic illnesses, and special populations.  In addition, a special presentation was given by Dr Jorge Gama Aguilar of the Instituto Politecnico Nacional on Doping Control in Mexico.

Pictured above (left to right):  Mohd Ghazali Mohd Isa (course secretary); Marc Safran, MD (faculty); Associate Professor John George (Convenor); Dato’ Dr. Amarjit Singh Gill (chairman); Bob Sallis, MD; (course chair); PZ Pearce, MD (faculty); Bob Dimeff, MD (faculty); Dr. Wye Mun Low (ITPC sub-committee chair), and Marilyn Chang (assistant).

The International Team Physician Course was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on September 23-25. The course allowed for teaching and fellowship among the ACSM faculty and the local attendees and drew approximately 50 attendees, mostly from Malaysia and Singapore.  The course was jointly sponsored by the Malaysian Association of Sports Science, the Football Association of Malaysia, the Olympic Council of Malaysia, and ACSM. The venue for the meeting was the beautiful National Sports Council Complex in Kuala Lumpur.  ACSM faculty included Robert Sallis, MD, FACSM (Course Chair), Robert Dimeff, MD, PZ Pearce, MD, and Marc Safran, MD, FACSM. Local faculty/organizers included Dr.Ramian Abdul Aziz, the newly appointed head of the Malaysian Sports Council,Dr John George, University of Malaya, Associate Radiologist of the National Sports Council, and Dato Dr. Amerit S. Gill, chairman of the Sports Medicine Society of Malaysian. Dr. Wye Mun Low, chair of the ITPC sub-committee, also attended and was instrumental in making the course a success.

Pictured above (left to right): L. Tyler Wadsworth M.D., Elizabeth Joy, M.D., William Roberts, M.D., Andrea Arruda, M.D., Andre Pedrinelli, M.D., William Dexter, M.D., Mary Lloyd Ireland, M.D., Mark Hutchinson, M.D., and Jim Macintyre, M.D.

The Sociedade Paulista de Medicina do Esporte (SPAMDE), which represents the regional chapter of the Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina do Esporte (SBME), hosted the first international Team Physician Course-Part I in Sao Paulo Brazil on May 11-14, 2005. The host organizers for this course were Andre Pedrinelli, M.D. and Andrea Arruda, M.D.  ACSM is pleased to be a part of sharing sports medicine knowledge with international colleagues. Offering this course outside the U.S. provides a learning opportunity for all involved.  The ACSM Medical Education Committee was called upon to consult with this group.  Faculty from ACSM invited to participate included: William W. Dexter, M.D., FACSM (Chair); Mark R. Hutchinson, M.D., FACSM; Mary Lloyd Ireland, M.D., FACSM; Elizabeth A. Joy, M.D., FACSM; William O. Roberts, M.D., FACSM: and L. Tyler Wadsworth, M.D. The Sociedade Paulista de Medicine do Esporte will look for an opportunity to offer Part II of the course in the very near future.

The 2005 ITPC was held in Mysore, India on March 4-6, 2005. Dr. Bogadi Prashanth served as the host with Rob Johnson, M.D. serving as the course chair. Faculty included: Anne Allen, M.D., Balakrishnan Natarajan, M.D. and Angela Smith, M.D.  The course attracted 110 participants, 37 physicians (primarily orthopaedists, a few family physicians and internists) and 69 sports physiotherapists. Most attendees were from the Mysore and Bangalore area of the state of Karnataka with a few representing neighboring states of Karela and Hyderabad. There were a few delegates from north India, three representatives from the Karnataka State Cricket Board and a physician representing the National Cricket Board of Pakistan from Lahore, Pakistan.