More than 20 years ago, Lyle Micheli, HMS clinical professor of orthopedic surgery at Children’s Hospital Boston, cofounded the sports medicine clinic at the hospital. A few years later, it was made into a permanent division and Micheli was named director of the program. The Division of Sports Medicine at Children’s was the first facility in North America dedicated to pediatric sports medicine, and it soon developed a reputation as a leader in research and treatment.
Micheli realized, however, that children who lived just a mile or two away from one of the best sports medicine facilities in the world often did not have access to it. Although the state mandates that a medical professional be present at high school football games, Boston’s inner city schools, with their chronic lack of resources, could often only provide an emergency medical technician—someone equipped to respond to an emergency, but unable to make a determination as to whether or not an injured player could return to the game. The burden of that decision was left instead to the coaches. Sometimes games would even have to be canceled if medical coverage was not available.
Micheli and colleagues at Children’s and Northeastern University decided that a lack of resources should not prevent Boston public school athletes from having access to expert medical care at games. In 2002, the Boston Inner City Sports Medicine Initiative (now the Boston Public Schools Sports Medicine Initiative) was created to fill this need.
“We’re trying to get them the same type of care that a suburban kid gets,” said Micheli.
The program, funded in part by the Roger M. and Michelle S. Marino Charitable Foundation, provides onsite sports medicine coverage to high school football games across the city of Boston, at no charge to the city. For his efforts and vision, Micheli was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award as part of the HMS Dean’s Community Service Awards program, sponsored by the Medical School’s Office for Diversity and Community Partnership.
Physicians, fellows and residents in Children’s Division of Sports Medicine, all of whom are qualified to make on-field assessments, treat injuries and determine if athletes are able to resume play, take part. In addition, the Sports Medicine Initiative has put protocols into place to determine who to call or when to take an athlete to the emergency room in the event of a more serious injury.
But on-the-field care is not the only care student athletes need. One of the goals of the program, said Micheli, is to provide preventive care in addition to direct medical care. To that end, in 2001 the Division of Sports Medicine teamed up with the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College to provide free preseason screenings to students in order to catch existing conditions and, if necessary, refer the students for treatment and follow-up care.
“We’ve had many kids, because this program is in place, who have had early diagnosis of injuries to their knees, for instance, and could have prompt surgical care,” said Micheli. “They’ve been able to go on to compete in college programs.”
The program has helped spread awareness of the need for sports medicine, particularly for preventive care. Boston Public Schools, realizing the importance of providing specialized care for athletes, has begun hiring more licensed athletic trainers. Physicians from other hospitals and private practices have coordinated with the Children’s program to provide additional preventive care at clinics around the city and coverage at sporting events. Recently, Philips Medical provided the Sports Medicine Initiative with automated external defibrillators to place at 17 Boston Public Schools for use during athletic events.
