Alert Banner Warning

Important Notice Regarding Medication Prescriptions for AHN Patients

Alert Banner X

Curriculum

The Saint Vincent Sports Medicine Fellowship incorporates a longitudinal curriculum structure. We believe this offers our fellows a number of important educational advantages. Learn more about

Clinical Experiences

Clinical Settings/Locations

Didactic Experiences

Clinical experience

Example of weekly schedule

AM

PM

Monday

Sports Medicine at SM Office, Attending Clinic

College Training Room

Tuesday

Didactics

High School TR

Wednesday

Fam Med, Sports Med Clinic, Fellows Clinic

Sports Medicine at SM Office, Attending Clinic

Thursday

Sports Med at Ortho, Attending Clinic

Continuity clinic

Friday

Ortho - Foot/Ankle or General

Ortho - Sports Med, Ortho

The longitudinal structure optimizes continuity of care. The fellow can be present through the entire course of an injury or problem, from the initial diagnostic evaluation, helping to formulate a treatment plan, being present for follow-up visits to assess response to the initial treatment plan and participating in return-to-play decision.

This structure optimizes working relationships with the faculty. The fellow will see patients with the same faculty members on a weekly basis. This allows the fellow and faculty members to develop close working relationships. The regular interaction offers the faculty the opportunity to provide individualized instruction to fellows to improve their skills during the course of their fellowship. The increased trust that comes from this relationship also enables the fellow to have greater participation in clinical decision-making over the course of their training.

Our program is able to offer the fellows a variety of clinical teaching sites. Each of these sites provides exposure to a different mix of patients but all provide invaluable clinical experience. Fellows spend time every week at the AHN Health and Wellness Pavilion Sports Medicine and the Orthopaedic Institute in an attending’s sports medicine clinic. Fellows will care for their own sports medicine patients in their weekly Sports Medicine Clinic at the Family Medicine Center. They also spend time weekly in a high school and college training room. The benefit of offering multiple clinical sites: private clinic, teaching/residency clinic and student health familiarizes the fellow with each of these environments which will be helpful in choosing their path once they have completed a fellowship. The different clinic sites also offers variety in what the fellow sees on a daily basis. The fellows receive exposure to competitive college athlete, high school athletes, active wellness-minded adults, as well as common orthopedic conditions seen in a primary care practice.

There are also opportunities to work in more acute care settings. The fellows' own continuity clinic occurs at Penn State Behrend’s student health office. The student health setting offers the fellows the opportunity to further develop their ability to diagnose and treat acute medical and musculoskeletal problems typically seen in a primary care office. Supervision is provided by faculty from Sports Medicine Fellowship.

The fellows work with orthopedic surgeons in a one-on-one setting in the college training rooms, offering exposure to a different diagnostic and treatment approach. They will also rotate with a variety of orthopedic surgeons with different specialties including: Foot/Ankle, Sports Medicine and Joint Replacement. This longitudinal interaction with ortho permits the fellows the opportunity to follow patients they may refer to ortho through their visits and into the OR.

While the foundation of our curriculum is longitudinal experience, if fellows are interested in a concentrated experience in a specific area or would like additional exposure to associated specialties, (PM & R, pain management, PT, etc.), special arrangements can be made to accommodate individual interests.

Clinical settings/locations

Training Facilities

AHN Health and Wellness Pavilion Sports Medicine
This office facility offers physician consultation for injury prevention, performance enhancement and comprehensive treatment. Ultrasound evaluations and guided injections are utilized in evaluation and treatment of patients in this setting.

The Sports Medicine Clinic at the Saint Vincent Family Medicine Center
The fellow has the opportunity to participate in the diagnosis and treatment of primary care orthopaedic problems in a specialty clinic that functions within the Family Medicine Center. This clinic provides care for a population that otherwise does not have ready access to orthopaedic care.

Penn State Behrend
This is a rich source of clinical experience for our fellows. The university is a member of the 10-school Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), participating in 21 Division III athletic programs with approximately 350 athletes. The fellow will be involved in weekly training room sessions as well as event coverage that provides hands-on exposure to a wide variety of acute and chronic sports medicine problems. The university’s student health office is also the location for the fellow’s weekly primary care clinical experience.

Edinboro Univeristy Of Pennsylvania

The University is home to a very diverse student population and is a strong advocate for disabled students. Athletes compete in 26 different sports: 24 Division II sports programs, Division I wrestling and men's wheelchair basketball. The Division II and Division I athletes compete in the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference (PSAC). Wrestling also competes in the Eastern Wrestling League (EWL) and placed 3rd in the nation in the NCAA tournament in 2015. The fellow is involved in a weekly training room along with the team's orthopedic surgeon, providing primary care sports medicine services to athletes. The University's Division II football and Division I wrestling programs offer excellent hands-on, sideline experience. 

Gannon University
A private, catholic university in the heart of the city of Erie, the school offers 22 different NCAA Division II athletic programs and 3 non-NCAA sports, and is a member of the Pennsylvania State Athletics Conference (PSAC). The fellow works with the team's orthopaedic surgeon, providing orthopaedic services to injured athletes.

High Schools
The fellow is involved in a weekly training room at one of our local high schools in addition to providing event coverage at the high school. We provide coverage for five public high schools and one private school in the Erie area. The fellow works under the supervision of the head team physician at his/her school but is able to provide first contact evaluation of injuries on the sidelines as well as evaluation of chronic problems in the training room. We have long-established relationships with these schools who value the contribution of our fellows to the care of their athletes.

BACK TO TOP

Didactic experiences

Didactic learning experiences include weekly didactic sessions, workshops, and conferences; monthly journal club; and musculoskeletal radiology sessions, as follows:

Weekly didactic sessions

Weekly didactic sessions are held, organized around anatomic modules. Each module provides in-depth instruction in anatomy, physical exam techniques, and the range of injuries and problems that may present at that joint. When appropriate, MSK Ultrasound is incorporated into the lectures to provide hands on teaching and anatomical correlation.

These anatomic modules include:

  • Knee
  • Foot and ankle
  • Shoulder
  • Brachial plexus
  • Elbow
  • Hand and wrist
  • Hip and pelvis
  • Lumbar spine

Important medical topics are covered throughout the year as well and include the following:

  • Pre-participation exam
  • Heat and cold illness
  • Sideline preparedness
  • Sports cardiology
  • Gastrointestinal problems in athletes
  • Sports nutrition
  • Sports dermatology
  • Exercise-induced bronchospasm
  • Concussion

Workshops and conferences

We schedule annual workshops for hands-on experience stabilizing and transporting the athlete found down on the field.

Fellows participate in the residency’s conference schedule by providing 1 sports medicine focused lecture once a month in the second half of the year.

Monthly journal club

The fellows choose articles from the sports medicine literature that are timely and address questions arising from their clinical work. The fellows are responsible for critically reviewing the article and presenting their conclusions about the study. Journal club is attended by fellows, sports medicine and orthopaedic attendings, and rotating residents.

MSK Radiology

Fellows are able to take advantage of MSK focused radiology lectures provided by the Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) Radiology Residency via zoom meetings.

Musculoskeletal Ultrasound

Our MSK US curriculum includes: one-on-one instruction with a faculty member skilled at US and US-guided injections, incorporation of US into the didactic sessions focused on anatomy and funding to attend a CME on US-guided injections. The program offers MSK US at all of our clinical sports medicine locations.

BACK TO TOP