Vice President Candidate

Mark R. Hutchinson, M.D., FACSM
Professor of Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
Adjunct Professor of Sports Medicine
In Family Medicine
Head Team Physician
Director of Sport Medicine Services
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, IL

1.   Please list your previous service to ACSM?

Twenty years ago, at the encouragement of my mentor, Mary Lloyd Ireland, I joined the American College of Sports Medicine.  I was in search of an organization that could provide a broader foundation to the field of sports medicine and sports science than could be provided solely by my specialty organization in orthopaedic sports medicine.  I found it. ACSM welcomed me and provided numerous opportunities to share my knowledge, serve the organization, and learn from numerous colleagues in the exercise and sports science.

Over the years, I have attended and presented at virtually every Annual Meeting, I have served on numerous committees including program, medical education, ethics, and pediatrics.  I have served on ACSM’s Board of Trustees as well as numerous roles for Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise® including reviewer, associate editor, associate editor-in-chief: medical, and editorial board.  I have served as speaker and director at every level of the ACSM Team Physician Courses including the Advanced Team Physician Course.  I have also served on International Team Physician Courses in Singapore, Brazil, and South Africa.

2.  What is ACSM’s greatest strength and how would you make that aspect of the organization stronger?

As time passed, it became obvious that ACSM is so much more than the limited expectations I placed on it twenty years ago.  The greatest strength of ACSM is its power to influence healthier lifestyles for sports specific, national, and international populations.  Through advocacy ACSM has played leading roles in concussion management, safety in motorcar racing, pre-participation examinations, and the female athlete triad.  The world looks to ACSM for leadership and guidance in these areas but none with broader impact than fitness and the importance of exercise in healthy populations.  ACSM needs to continue to carry the torch and champion the messages of Exercise is Medicine® and how exercise and fitness can lead to a healthier populations while simultaneously lowering health care costs.  I sincerely believe that we are at a unique time regarding the future of healthcare in the United States.   This window gives ACSM a unique opportunity to effect change and promote fitness and healthy lifestyles well into the future.

3.   What is a second area of ACSM that you would like for the College to make additional progress and how could that best be done?

The magic of ACSM has always been in the collegial relationships between scientists and clinicians.  The Annual Meeting is a wonderful opportunity to reach outside one’s specialty and broaden one’s vision.  I enjoy exploring the presentations, posters, and papers in exercise science, physiology, and fitness that ultimately broaden my base and make me a better physician for my patients and athletes.  I believe my scientist colleagues achieve the same benefit by seeing how their research may ultimately be applied clinically.  I love the presentations at the Annual Meeting that cross over from scientist to clinician.  This spirit of collegiality and interdisciplinary approaches needs to continue to be a core and central role at ACSM especially for the clinicians.  Over the past, several years ACSM has seen a diminished growth in clinician members as specialty organizations compete for their attention.  Promoting interdisciplinary relationships is a facet that makes ACSM unique and has the strongest potential to serve as a motivation for growth and retention of the clinical side of ACSM.

4.   ACSM works closely with many other organizations, including associations, companies, philanthropies, and governmental agencies. Indicate those organizations/companies/agencies for which you play and advisory, consulting, or leadership role.

I believe that my leadership roles in the Female Athlete Triad Coalition, Chicago Sports Medicine Society, Illinois Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons, Orthopaedic Learning Center, and Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA); my service and committee roles for the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and AANA; and my editorial experience as reviewer, associate editor and/or editorial board member for Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise®, the American Journal of Sports Medicine, the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the Physician and Sportsmedicine, and the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery; will provide a sound foundation to serve you as Vice-President of ACSM.