Category: News

The USA Rugby teams just completed their week-long training camp in Mimasaka City. The city prepared for 2 years for the arrival of the teams, and their hard work showed.

The stadium and training facilities were top notch, and there was a team of bus drivers to bring the teams back and forth throughout the day. The hotel was first rate, and the food was gourmet. At the hotel players had massages every third day, and each day the spa or ‘onsen’ was available for both the team and staff.

Each morning I was able to work out with the staff before the team schedule began. We had access to the gym, an indoor basketball court, and to the field. We played a ton of games of knock out and PIG – it was a fun way to bond with the staff and players. A small running club began and we did sprint intervals. The last time I did sprint intervals was about 15 years ago in college – needless to say I was sore! The weather was hot and humid, so it was great preparation for the team for Tokyo.

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Now that we are in Tokyo we are divided between the Village and a hotel. Some of the staff (including me) are at a hotel due to space restrictions in the Village. Team USA has its own building which includes a whole floor for Sports Medicine. There are many familiar faces there – people that our team at SDSM works with throughout the year at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center.

The Village is vibrant and full. Everyone is masked and there are hand washing or sanitizing stations every 5 feet. The dining hall is two level and there are plexiglass dividers between each player for safety while unmasked. The food options are diverse – there are vegan, gluten free, and halal options. It is fun to see all the athletes mix throughout the village – in fact I saw Yao Ming (now a coach) with Team China just today!

It is also fun to connect with colleagues at the Village. A friend from medical school, Dr. Kentaro Onishi, is from Japan and is a part of the International Olympic Committee delegation for using musculoskeletal ultrasound on the sideline. Dr. Michelle Look just arrived and we will see each other at the 6 days of men’s and women’s games next week. A former SDSM physician who now works in New York City Dr. Naresh Rao is the team physician for USA Men’s Water Polo and we will be meeting up this week as well.

We are all excited to see Team USA bring home the GOLD!! Cheer us on from afar, and I look forward to sharing more stories throughout the next week!

With the 2020 Olympics currently happening in Tokyo, Japan – doctor Alexandra Myers has been giving interviews to news publications and has been quoted in a number of articles. Read some of the Olympic coverage and get a doctors perspective from the articles and newspapers below.

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Tokyo Olympics USA Rugby Sevens arrive in Mimasaka with minimal welcome to prevent Covid infections

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DOs at the Tokyo Olympics share the joys and challenges of working with world-class athletes

Get Olympic DOs’ advice for aspiring sports medicine docs and learn what it takes to care for elite athletes.

The DO spoke with Dr. Rao, Dr. Myers and Dr. Lally to get an inside scoop on the highs and lows of practicing sports medicine at the highest level. Following is an edited Q&A with answers from Dr. Myers.

What does the pre-Olympics prep looked like?

For rugby, athletes train at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center in Southern California. I practice in San Diego, so I see them on a regular basis.

Whenever they have injuries during training, or when they’re competing abroad, they come back and I see them here. In a given week, I’m seeing one or two players. So it’s a pretty close-contact situation.

I also cover their scrimmages. The men had Argentina in town recently, and the women had Brazil in town.

What should viewers watching your sport be looking for when they watch the Olympics?

Olympic rugby is a very quick game, so you have to pay attention. There’s no stoppage time. In football, when the ball is down on the ground, the play is over.

But in rugby, it’s continuous play until somebody gets a try, which is like a goal or touchdown. You have to keep watching the ball.

What are the common injuries you see in your sport?

In rugby, we see lots of broken hand bones, broken fingers and concussions. The big thing we worry about is spine injuries. We’ve had a couple this year, but they weren’t catastrophic. One of our athletes went through getting a cervical disc replacement and rehab and getting back into contact sports.

What advice would you give to medical students who would like to become team physicians for athletes competing at the Olympics one day?

I recommend shadowing a sports med physician and working with local sports teams. When I was in residency, I worked with one of our ER doctors who covered high school football. I took over the high school football coverage, and I had three years of high school football experience before I got into fellowship, which was super helpful.

You may have to recalibrate your income expectations. Sports medicine is not the highest paid specialty, and most of the cool jobs are actually volunteer positions.

At the same time, there are ways to make more money in sports medicine. There are all sorts of new injection therapies that are available for athletes. I don’t personally do a lot of those because I wanted to maintain a family medicine practice in addition to doing sports medicine.

Read Full Article on the DO: DOs at the Tokyo Olympics share the joys and challenges of working with world-class athletes

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Simone Biles Withdrawal Puts Athletes’ Mental Health in Spotlight

Physicians attached to Olympic teams say they have been far more sensitive to athletes’ mental health needs during the pandemic.

Alex Myers, a physician for the U.S. rugby team who also works with college students and other athletes in San Diego, said she saw more generally an increase in phone calls regarding self-harm and suicide during the pandemic.

“Because of the pandemic, it ruptured the very frail social structures that a lot of young adults have,” Myers said. “Because of social media, every social interaction became more intense,” magnifying mental disorders that already existed and increasing the rate of emergence, she added.

Read Full Article on Bloomberg: Simone Biles Withdrawal Puts Athletes’ Mental Health in Spotlight

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Have you ever seen some extra letters after your doctor’s name?

Well, those extra letters usually mean that your doctor has spent extra time to become an expert in their field of practice.

I was recently honored with the distinction of Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine, and so will be adding the letters FAOASM to my credentials. This is an award given to physicians who have practiced sports medicine and have been active in caring for elite athletes, as well as teaching their colleagues and students on the advancement of sports medicine.

The Physician’s Education Journey

A physician’s education begins in medical school after which they must complete a residency. When a physician graduates from their residency training, they usually complete a process to become Board Certified (BC) in their field such as in Family Practice or Internal Medicine.

Each physician has the option to join their professional organization, such as the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine. Once joining the organization, physicians have the opportunity to attend educational events to further their specialty education.

Most professional organizations offer a certification program which is meant to assess the knowledge and excellence of each member. Member physicians complete course work and take competency tests in order to obtain their certification, and are required annually to participate in more educational events. After 7-10 years physicians then become eligible to apply to become a ‘fellow’ of the organization. A very small percentage of the member physicians ultimately become fellows due to the rigor of the process.

The physicians at San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center have taken additional formal education following residency training in their Primary Care specialty (Family Medicine or Internal Medicine) and have earned Board Certification in Sports Medicine (the exception is Dr. Cheffet who is residency trained in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics).

Many of our doctors are also leaders within their professional organizations. Four of our doctors have become President of their specialty college or risen to presidency of our state specialty organizations. No matter the chosen path, each year, our doctors spend many hours completing continuing medical education (CME) in order to stay up to date on their knowledge and provide excellent care.

The Esteemed physicians at San Diego Sport Medicine

I am proud to be joining these esteemed physicians who have also attained Fellowship status within our professional organizations.

Dr. Richard Parker – Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine

Dr. Jeff Anthony – Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine

Dr. Allen Richburg – Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians

Dr. Michelle Look – Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians

Dr. Steve Rohrer – Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine

Dr. Shannon Cheffet – Fellow of the American Board of Pediatrics

Dr. Lee Rice – Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine, Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Fellow of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine

How to Find a Physician who is a fellow near you

Are you a patient looking for a physician who is a fellow in their organization?

Many organizations have a search function to look for qualified physicians in your area. Look for the letters behind the name, and remember an ‘F’ usually represents ‘Fellow.’

Here are some good resources for finding qualified doctors in your area:

• Find a DO Doctor of Osteopathy Near You
• American Medical Society for Sport Medicine Find A Doctor Search

At the end of July, I had the unique opportunity to work with the USA Rugby Women’s and Men’s Sevens teams at the Panamerican Games in Peru. It was a true honor and adventure. The teams met for training in Chula Vista, and we arrived in Lima about a week before the beginning of the tournament. We were one of the first teams to arrive which was nice. We had brand new accommodations, and were welcomed with enthusiasm.

The Panam Games occur every four years, and any country from North or South America has the opportunity to be represented. I met athletes and doctors from countries all over these regions, and it was amazing to see how they all got along. It was a team atmosphere throughout.

The athletes and staff lived in the ‘Village.’ At the village there were six brand new apartment towers, and Team USA occupied most of Tower 3. There was a giant cafeteria, called ‘comedor’ in Spanish. Everything was labelled in both English and Spanish in the village. There was a large gym, pool, and locker room for all the teams and staff to use. There was a ‘Polyclinic’ where there was medical care available to all the teams. Some of the teams came without an Athletic Trainer or Physician, and depended on the Polyclinic for all their care. For example, the El Salvadorean Team brought only one doctor for all 52 of their athletes! Thankfully for our team, we had one Athletic Trainer for each team, and I served as the Team Doctor for both teams. The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee brought a large staff of Athletic Trainers and Physicians to help care for all the USA teams. The USOPC staff was stationed on site at the village.

Every day while in Peru our teams were bused to the stadium. We practiced and played at a brand new stadium called Villa Maria del Triunfo. The stadium was so new that most of the bus drivers didn’t know it existed, and certainly didn’t know how to get there! We got lost a couple of times, but in the end we always made it safely to the stadium and back. The stadium was beautiful and had all the amenities we needed. The Peruvian medical staff at the stadium was competent and welcoming.

The teams did very well, with the women earning a silver medal and the men earning a bronze medal. There were several injuries on the men’s team, and the last game they only had 9 players (2 substitutes). The games were intense and exciting. At one point the Athletic Trainer and I were handling two concussions back to back in the same game. Needless to say we worked hard!

I was thankful that our teams did well and that I had a chance to explore Lima. On one of the free afternoons, I went to the downtown area called Miraflores. It was an affluent area with a beautiful boardwalk and pier. There were tons of surf schools, much like in San Diego. I rented a bike and explored all over town before heading back to the village. On the last day of our trip I also got to go the surf competition at Puntas Rocas. It was amazing to see the beautiful facilities that the Panam Games brought to this area of Lima. It was awesome to see athletes from all over the region competing. It was nice to relax and enjoy the competition before heading home.

Due to the proliferation of electronic scooters in the past year, there has been an increase of accidents and even several deaths in the San Diego area.  In April 2019, The Mission Beach Town council released a referendum on scooter recommendations to the city of San Diego, and organized a protest in the Mission Beach area.  They contacted San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center for comments on the scooter situation and requested that doctors make an appearance at the protest.

San Diego Sports Medicine and Family Health Center physicians Dr. Alexandra Myers and her colleague Dr. Elizabeth Williams were then asked to speak during the protest and report on their observations of scooter related injuries.

On ABC 10 News in San Diego they provided comments and statistics:

“We see concussions, cuts, broken bones, and recently a severe neck injury. Someone almost lost their vision in their eye,”

Sports Medicine Physician, Dr. Alexandra Myers said.

“UCLA published a study over a year, and they’ve noticed over 250 injuries. 40% are causing head injuries. 5% have elevated levels of alcohol in their blood. And 98% of people are not wearing helmets,”

Dr. Elizabeth Williams said.

Watch the news cast on ABC 10 News

Ironically minutes after the rally the news reported on a Teen injured in e-scooter accident hours after e-scooter protest

“Safety not scooters!” San Diego locals gather in Mission Beach to protest the amount of electric scooters on the boardwalk. Many of those I have talked to say they feel unsafe walking on the boardwalk out of fear of the scooters. @CBS8 pic.twitter.com/AkHtMtIPsc

— Tim Blodgett (@TCBlodgettKFMB) April 20, 2019