…a Winning Combination

by Leslie Zganjar

University Medical Center recently opened a Sports Medicine facility where patients suffering from sports or exercise-related injuries can be treated by the same physicians who provide care for University of Alabama athletes.
The Dr. Bill deShazo Sports Medicine Center opened February 15 and is located within the Family Medicine Suite at University Medical Center. The medical center is operated by the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus/College of Community Health Sciences.

Two physicians who currently provide care for University of Alabama athletes will practice at the center: James Robinson, M.D., and Craig Buettner, M.D., both of West Alabama Family Practice and Sports Medicine in Tuscaloosa.
The Sports Medicine Center is open to the public, as well as to University athletes. The center, which is accepting new patients, will be open Friday afternoons and will later include Tuesday afternoons. With the growing need for Sports Medicine services, the program is expected to quickly expand. A grand opening celebration for the Center will be held April 12 on the University of Alabama Quad prior to the annual A-Day Spring Football Game at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

“At the Sports Medicine Center, we will diagnose and treat injuries, such as muscular and skeletal injuries, and focus on prevention,” Robinson says. “If patients require braces, splints or X-rays, this can all be done at the Sports Medicine Center.”

He says the center will also provide youth sports physicals and will offer some services related to diet and nutrition.

Robinson says more sports-related injuries are cropping up in children and teenagers. “With kids, we are seeing things we haven’t seen much of before. With the fact that most youth sports are year round, we are seeing more overuse injuries,” he says.

Robinson and Buettner are both graduates of the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency, which is administered by the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus. The two also completed Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowships, which provided them with additional specialized training in Sports Medicine.

The Dr. Bill deShazo Sports Medicine Center is a key component of a new Sports Medicine Fellowship Program that the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus is creating in partnership with the University of Alabama Athletic Department. The fellowship program will educate, train and certify medical fellows to provide state-of-the-art care in Sports Medicine around the state.

Under the guidelines of the program, fellows will be required to spend one day a week seeing patients at the Sports Medicine Center. Fellows will also be required to devote 10 to 15 hours per week to the Athletic Department, as well as provide weekly participation at a University of Alabama sporting event.
Robinson says the fellowship program will likely draw medical residents from across the country. He says some residents in the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency have already expressed in interest in becoming fellows.

The Sports Medicine Fellowship Program will have two full-time Sports Medicine faculty members. Plans call for one faculty member to hold an Endowed Chair for Sports Medicine Research and lead the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus’ efforts in Sports Medicine training and research. Both the Sports Medicine Program fellows and faculty will work closely with University of Alabama coaches, athletic trainers and athletes.

The Dr. Bill deShazo Sports Medicine Center is named in honor of Bill deShazo, M.D., a long-time faculty member of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus who chaired its Department of Family Medicine and who directed the Tuscaloosa Family Medicine Residency. deShazo also was the team physician for the University of Alabama Athletic Department from 1972 to 1985, serving as a personal physician to Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, as well as a team physician for the football, basketball and baseball teams. deShazo retired from the University in 1988 and passed away in 2006.

deShazo introduced the Sports Medicine rotation into the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus curriculum and “always talked about having a Sports Medicine Program at The University of Alabama,” says E. Eugene Marsh, M.D., dean of the College of Community Health Sciences and associate dean of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus.

Marsh says the Sports Medicine Center and fellowship program will benefit the University of Alabama and its athletes and provide additional training for future physicians “that will be felt in community sports programs throughout the state as fellows graduate from the program and establish their practices throughout Alabama and the Southeast region.”

University Medical Center serves all of West Alabama
University Medical Center, which serves not only University of Alabama students, faculty and staff but all West Alabama residents, emphasizes primary health care supported by physicians who specialize in Pediatrics, Adolescent Medicine, Family Medicine, Sports Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Neurology, Psychology and Psychiatry. University Medical Center provides laboratory testing and X-rays on site, and offers social work services and nutrition therapy, as well as a health sciences library that is open to the public. The medical center also has a state-of-the-art electronic medical information system. The paperless system makes it easier to improve education and clinical efficiency while providing the best possible care to patients, Marsh says.

“At University Medical Center we strive to offer high quality patient-centered health care” he added.

The services at University Medical Center include:Pediatrics, which provides clinical care to the children of West Alabama Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Care is provided by and under the direct supervision of five board-certified pediatricians and a nurse practitioner, all of whom are faculty of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus. Some of Pediatrics’ other services include:

•High-Risk Follow-up Clinic, a multi-specialty clinic that includes social services, physical therapy, occupational therapy, development and hearing specialists and nutritional services. The clinic provides early medical intervention to infants and toddlers up to 3 years of age who weighed three-and-a-half pounds or less at birth, or who were born at a gestational age of 32 weeks or less. The clinic also provides ongoing evaluations of children who are at risk of experiencing medical or developmental problems as a result of being born prematurely or at low birth weight. The clinic is open two half days per month.

•ADHD Clinic, a collaborative project of the Pediatric and Psychiatry Departments of the University of Alabama School of Medicine, Tuscaloosa Campus and the University of Alabama Schools of Social Work and Psychology. The clinic is open Monday afternoons and serves children from the ages of 6 to 18 years.

•Regional Outreach Clinics: The Regional Sickle Cell Clinic meets regularly each year bringing a team of health care professionals from The Children’s Hospital of Alabama in Birmingham, including a pediatric hematologist, to University Medical Center to provide services to West Alabama children with sickle cell disease. Appointments for new patients can be scheduled by the patient’s primary care provider by calling the Children’s Hospital Pediatric Hematology Office at (205) 939-9285. The Pediatric Surgery Clinic meets the second and fourth Friday mornings each month. Appointments can be scheduled by referring physician offices by calling the Children’s Hospital Department of Pediatric Surgery at (205) 939-9688.

Adolescent Medicine is the first medical practice wholly devoted to the health care needs of adolescents in Tuscaloosa and West Alabama. Services are provided Tuesday afternoons in the Pediatric Suite of University Medical Center. Areas of care offered by the center include: general physical exams, sports exams and preventive care; treatment of acne; evaluation and treatment of common medical problems; treatment of asthma, allergies and other chronic conditions; vision and hearing screening; lifestyle issues evaluation and counseling for smoking, substance abuse and other risk behaviors; and support for emotional issues, including depression, anxiety, peer conflicts, parental conflicts, mood swings and school problems.

Family Medicine provides comprehensive medical care for individuals and their families. Board-certified Family Medicine physicians are trained to diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments in patients of all ages. Special emphasis is placed on prevention and primary care. Family Medicine services are provided Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays until 8:30 p.m.

Internal Medicine provides primary care for adult patients. In addition to board-certified clinicians who diagnose and treat simple as well as complex medical problems, the department includes a full-time pharmacist on faculty and a team of hospitalists. Internal Medicine services are provided Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Obstetrics and Gynecology provides obstetrics and gynecology services for women, including care for women during low and high-risk pregnancies and during and after childbirth. Services are provided Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Betty Shirley Clinic for Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine specializes in comprehensive psychiatric evaluation, individual psychotherapy, marital, family and group therapy, psychopharmacology and psychological testing. The clinic is open Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All services at University Medical Center can be reached by calling (205) 348-1770.