Sports

Sports injuries, including soft tissue trauma, represent a significant burden to athletes and can predispose to Osteoarthritis. The University of Toronto Orthopedic Sports Medicine Program (UTOSM) was established in 2010 to deal with these problems. There are a total of 14 surgeons in the UTOSM group with staff at Women’s College, Toronto Western, Michael Garron Hospital (TEGH), St. Michaels, Sunnybrook and Holland, and Mt. Sinai Hospitals.

Vision

The advancement and application of surgical science in soft tissue trauma and sports injuries for the benefit of all society.

Goals

Provide expert evidence based care for soft tissue trauma and sports injuries, including specialised care for complex problems

To advance science in soft tissue and sports trauma by design, implementation and participation in quality clinical trials

To measure health services outcomes and assess population health through value and access to care

To develop and establish novel methods of assessing competence in postgraduate medical education, with a focus on surgical simulation

Strategy – Diversity, Focus, Expertise

A diversified approach that involves expertise across focused endeavors in clinical care, research, and education in the field of musculoskeletal soft tissue trauma and sports injury.

Clinical Care

Our plan is the maintenance and restoration of an active lifestyle and sports participation at all levels. This includes expert surgical management of soft tissue trauma and sports injuries. We strive for cost effective care of simple injuries and ambulatory surgical care of soft tissue trauma and sports injuries.

We will particularly focus on poorly serviced areas such as women, pediatric/adolescent, and masters’ athletes. In addition, we have the expertise for complex care such as tertiary surgical care, multiligament knee injuries, complex shoulder, foot and ankle, cartilage and joint restoration and hip arthroscopy.

We are involved in strategic partnerships for primary care sports and rehabilitation including U of T athletes. We aim to be the primary provider for elite athletes in high school, collegiate and professional sports organizations in Toronto.

Our group consists of surgeons from all the University Hospitals with Women’s College Hospital being the central hub.

Research and Education

Our education program, as part of the Division of Orthopaedics, is competency based, and consists of two 12 week rotations on the sports program. Residents can be based at any of the hospitals with centralised teaching 3 days per week.

Research in education is particularly on outcome measures for competence, and developing validated simulation. In addition, we are investigating research orientation and teaching roles in Fellows, along with competency assessment and quantification.

Clinical research focusses on high level clinical trials that will change practice, and is based out of the various University Hospitals. These are often multisite studies across UTOSM. Additionally, we are studying population studies to evaluate health services and value based care.

Staff

We have 14 surgeons in the group at UTOSM.

  • Dr. Abouali (TEGH) is in general sports injuries including knee and shoulder;
  • Dr. Chahal (WCH; UHN) is an interim program director, and focuses on hip, knee, and shoulder arthroscopy;
  • Dr. Dwyer (WCH; MSH), who is Team Physician to TFC, specializes in hip, knee, and shoulder arthroscopy;
  • Dr. Henry (SBMC) has a major interest in the shoulder and difficult soft tissue problems;
  • Dr. Marks (SBMC), Team Surgeon to the Raptors, specializes in the knee;
  • Dr. Murnaghan (HSC; WCH) specializes in pediatric and adolescent sports injuries.
  • Dr. Nauth (SMH) has a major interest in trauma as well as sports injuries;
  • Dr. Ogilvie-Harris (UHN; WCH) has a special interest in knee, shoulder, ankle, and general sports injuries;
  • Dr. Theodoropoulos (MSH; WCH) is Team Surgeon for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and has a special interest in knee and shoulder injuries;
  • Dr. Tomescu (SBMC) has expertise in lower extremity osteotomies and patellofemoral disease;
  • Dr. Veillette (UHN; WCH) and Dr. Leroux (UHN) specialize in upper extremity, which includes shoulder and elbow;
  • Dr. Wasserstein (SBMC) specializes in the knee including complex reconstructions;
  • Dr. Whelan (SMH; WCH) specializes in hip arthroscopy and knee injuries, with a special interest in multiligament problems.

Our website details the features of the program, along with detailed postgraduate educational information: http://www.utosm.com