MMI 2nd Annual FREE Sports Physical Clinic to benefit Frederick Area High School Athletes

FREDERICK, Md. - June 4, 2013 - PRLog -- The doctors at the Mid-Maryland Musculoskeletal Institute (MMI) feel strongly about giving back to the community where they practice. As team physicians for Gov. Thomas Johnson, Linganore, Tuscarora, Urbana and new this year Oakdale High Schools, MMI’s physicians provide sideline coverage during home football games and work in conjunction with each high school’s team athletic trainer to ensure the timely evaluation and treatment for injuries sustained in a game or during practice.  In addition, they perform sports physicals for athletes participating in sports at these five area high schools at no charge to the student or the school.  Once again this year, these sports physicals will be done at a FREE Sports Physical Clinic held at the main MMI facility in Frederick, Maryland on Saturday, June 8th.

For many years the physicians at MMI performed free sports physicals for those athletes who could not afford to pay for the examination, required by FCPS, for participation in high school sports.  Last year for the first time, instead of going to each high school to perform these physicals as they had in the past, MMI opened the free physicals to all athletes and held one large clinic for the above named high schools, at their Frederick facility.   The event was such an overwhelming success that the physicians at MMI decided to make it an annual event.  

This year, on Saturday morning, June 8th from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM, free sports physicals will be given to the athletes from Gov. Thomas Johnson, Linganore, Tuscarora, Urbana and Oakdale High Schools as well as free injury prevention screenings provided by MMI’s physical therapists.  Maryland SportsCare and Rehabilitation, the school’s athletic trainers, will provide athletes and their parents with valuable information on the State of Maryland mandates for concussion screening and the latest law passed on heat acclimatization for athletes training in summer heat.  Training drills will be run by the fitness experts from 368 Athletics and Keyote, the Frederick Keys mascot, will put in an appearance.  Breakfast will be provided to the athletes through generous donations from Wegmans, Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, The Fractured Prune, Safeway, Costco, Weis and Giant Eagle.  Key 103 will be broadcasting remotely from the event as well.

MMI has multiple physicians specially trained in the field of Sports Medicine who render expert care to these local athletes.  Dr. Jeffrey Gilsdorf, team physician for Linganore High School, worked as a team physician for the University of Tennessee, Carson Newman College, the Knoxville Smokies Professional baseball team, and the Knoxville Cherokees Professional Hockey team.  Dr. James Steinberg, team physician for Tuscarora High School, completed a fellowship in Sports Medicine at the Hughston Clinic in Columbus, Georgia and worked as a team physician for the Columbus Cottonmouths, a professional hockey team, and the Columbus Wardogs, a professional arena football team.  Dr. Zinon Pappas, team physician for Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, completed his Sports Medicine fellowship training at Beth Israel Medical Center in NY and worked closely with the New York Knicks team physicians.  Dr. Frank Nisenfeld, the founding physician at MMI, and an avid sports enthusiast, is the team physician for Urbana High School.

New this year to the MMI team physician program is Oakdale High School.  Oakdale Athletic Director, Chris Krivos, contacted MMI after hearing about the program through conversations with some of the other high school athletic directors in the county.  Krivos commented, “Having a qualified sports medicine physician patrolling the sidelines during football games helps keep the student athletes safe when injuries occur on the field. They can make prompt medical decisions which are sometimes critical in giving the athlete and the coach on the spot medical advice.”  Dr. Ricardo Valle will be the team physician for Oakdale and completed a Fellowship in Sports Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and was a team physician for the Houston Texans, Houston Astros, Houston Rockets and the Houston Dynamo as well the University of Houston football and basketball teams.

MMI orthopaedic surgeon and Tuscarora team physician, Dr. James Steinberg noted, “We are very excited about this great opportunity to work with these student athletes and give back to the Frederick Community. Community support is critical to the rearing of healthy well rounded youth.  Whether in athletics or academics, through our work with these schools we want to stress the importance of family and community support toward excellence.”