Sports medicine

Geisinger's Department of Orthopaedics in Danville offers a four-week elective rotation in sports medicine. Our department provides care for more than 10,000 office visits per year and performs more than 6,000 surgical procedures per year. We provide comprehensive orthopaedic care that includes operative and non-operative management of orthopaedic problems; athletic training services, rehabilitation services and radiological services.

The rotating medical student will be integrated into our services by becoming active in the daily care of our patients. Medical students will be expected to learn how to examine common orthopaedic sports related injuries, review appropriate radiographic studies, formulate a treatment plan and assist the attending and resident physician in care of the patient. Additional opportunities include experience in the rehabilitation facility working with physical therapists in the rehabilitation of sports related injuries and "on the field" experience with physicians covering local high school and collegiate sporting events. Medical students are expected to participate in surgical procedures and to prepare and present a lecture on sports medicine related topic.

There are 10 certified athletic trainers in our program.

Goals & objectives

The overall educational goal for the rotating student is gain experience in the subspecialty of sports medicine and orthopaedics. The rotating student will work directly with sports medicine fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeons and primary care specialists, sports medicine physician assistants, physical therapists and athletic trainers. The effective delivery of sports medical care relies on the disciplines of orthopaedic surgery, physical therapy and athletic training working together as a cohesive unit. Specific educational goals will include:

• Knowledge acquisition of musculo-skeletal system anatomy as it pertains to orthopaedic sports-related injuries. This includes fundamental knowledge of head, neck and spine injuries; injuries to the shoulder, elbow and hand; and injuries to the hips, knee and foot/ankle
• The ability to evaluate injured patients and formulate a treatment plan
• The ability to review related radiologic studies such as X-Ray, MRI and CT scans of the musculo-skeletal system
• Knowledge acquisition of the non-operative management of sports-related injuries in relation to prescription of appropriate physical therapy and athletic training services
• Discuss the fundamentals of surgical management of common sports related injuries to the shoulder, knee, elbow, hand, foot and ankle
• Develop fundamental knowledge about common ethical issues in the management of young athletes and their injuries