Orthopedic Surgery News Archive Featured in the Media JeffNEWS

DATE: Wednesday, July 28, 2004

TIME: 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

LOCATION: 925 Chestnut St., Fifth Floor (corner of 10th and Chestnut streets), Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

EVENT: Sports medicine specialist Robert W. Frederick, M.D., of the Rothman Institute at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, will get an Olympics-style send-off from staff before heading to Athens, Greece. Dr. Frederick is serving as head physician for the U.S. men's and women's artistic and woman’s rhythmic gymnastics teams competing in the 2004 Olympic Games.

Dr. Frederick, assistant professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, is one of only eight physicians in the United States, and the only one from the state of Pennsylvania, selected to provide medical care to approximately 540 American athletes taking part in the games this August.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Dr. Frederick said. “These athletes have dedicated the last four years of their lives towards the goal of competing in Greece and bringing home the gold. Our goal as their physicians is to minimize the impact of any injury or illness on their achieving this life long dream.”

In addition to the gymnastics teams, Dr. Frederick will provide medical services to the acrobatic and trampoline athletes, as well as to some of the smaller U.S. sports which do not have a physician dedicated to their participants.

BACKGROUND: Dr. Frederick was selected because of his past experience in the Olympic Games. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, he served as director of athlete care for gymnastics and cared for gymnasts including Kerry Strug, who, during the 1996 Olympics, won a gold medal for herself and her team, despite a severe ankle injury. Since the Atlanta games, he has been chosen as chief orthopaedic consultant for the U.S. Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team and was named head physician for the U.S. Women’s Rhythmic Team. In 2001, he was director of care for the USA National Gymnastic Championships held in Philadelphia, in addition to providing medical and orthopaedic care at subsequent National Championships in other cities. This year he was selected as the head USOC Physician for the USA Gymnastic Olympic Trials in Anaheim, Calif.

Dr. Frederick and the other team physicians will be on site at 97 different venues around Athens during competitions, as well as at the Olympic Village, where the teams will be housed during the Games.

Dr. Frederick said common injuries among gymnasts include the less traumatic overuse injuries such as stress fractures, bursitis and tendonitis but also include more significant ligamentous tears (such as the knee anterior cruciate ligament or ACL) and joint dislocations such as with the shoulder.

In addition to his work with gymnasts, Dr. Frederick is also Assistant Team Physician to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Philadelphia Soul Arena Football team and St. Joseph’s University. He also helps provide medical coverage for many of the elite track and field events and distance runs in Philadelphia.