Game On: A Day in the Life of a Team Physician

Описание: It’s game day for the Florida Atlantic University Owls, and scoring touchdowns is just one of the goals ahead. The players also hope to get through the four quarters with no injuries, but if a mishap occurs the Baptist Health Orthopedic Care team is at their side. Team physicians, orthopedic surgeon James Ross, M.D., and primary care sports medicine physician Alex Mafdali, M.D., work with the players throughout the season to help prevent medical problems and handle injuries at games and in training ― whether it’s a torn meniscus that needs surgery, a rolled ankle that requires rehabilitation, a shoulder dislocation, a concussion or any other issue requiring medical attention.
{TRANSCRIPT}: - Hi, my name is Dr. James Ross and I'm an orthopedic surgeon for Baptist Health Orthopedic Care, and I'm the orthopedic surgeon for the Florida Atlantic University Owls.

My name is Dr. Alex Mafdali with Baptist Health Orthopedics, and I'm one of the team physicians for the FAU Football Team.

A typical day for me working with the players at FAU involves coming to the training room, seeing athletes in my doctor's office here at the training room, examining them for acute injuries or chronic injuries, discussing treatment plans that may involve medical imaging, perhaps injections and occasionally surgery.

The treatment method for football players differs than the typical community person or patient. These guys are in peak physical shape and something that may bother the normal community patient may not be an issue for an elite football player, and they also have the means that they can get things addressed on the day-to-day basis with the help of an athletic trainer. I think the thing I enjoy most about being the team physician for FAU football team is the comradery amongst the players, the coaches, all the ancillary staff, really feeling valued that I could play a part in these athletes' day-to-day measures and help them be the best performers on the field.

I love the comradery, not only amongst the staff, the athletic trainers, the physical therapists, but also the team. It's great to see the players. It's great to know who they are, but also sit down and bring the brains together to try to figure out the problems that you're faced with amongst these athletes.

I have definitely found myself taking a different approach to how I watch football. Previously, I've watched football my whole life and when the kickoff is happening, I'd watch the kick returner, but now I see my eye shifting to the midfield knowing that that's where high impact is gonna happen and potentially someone could get injured. And I'm also making sure after every play that everyone's walking out and there's no injuries there.

The most common injury that we see in college football, I swear, varies year by year. For some reason, this year it's ankles. Other years it's knee injuries, some years it's shoulders, but I would say with football players and cleats and the change of direction that they're involved in, it's usually a lower extremity injury such as a knee or an ankle. The Baptist Health growth in the Palm Beach area is very important. I think Baptist Health in Miami is a staple in the community that everybody looks to towards for their healthcare. I think here in Palm Beach, we haven't really had a dominant provider of orthopedics, but I think Baptist Health has the opportunity and we're starting to capitalize on the opportunity to really reach out into the community and bring the mentality of treating the athletes in the community like we're treating our pro athletes. We're fortunate to be able to take care of both Florida Atlantic University and Lynn University, and also have a partnership with the Florida Panthers. And I think that when community members see their physicians are being looked upon by these professional athletes, I think it gives them a sense of pride. It gives them a sense of comfort in knowing that they're going to a physician that is really at the top of their game, is up to date on the most current techniques and technologies for treating them.

I would definitely agree. I feel that the patients find that, if I'm good enough to be the team physician for FAU, I'm good enough to be their doctor as well.

For me, it's the most gratifying experience to see the athlete that I operated on six, nine months ago, go out and score a touchdown, make a big tackle or a big sack. It's just amazing to see the excitement on the player's face, knowing what they've gone through to get back to that level of play.