Aspen Sports Medicine Foundation

About the Foundation

Americans sustain 33 million musculo-skeletal injuries annually with 20% of these injuries occurring during sports activities or on school grounds. Ninety per cent of these injuries require some form of medical attention and care. The cost in lost work days is more than 26 billion dollars each year. This does not begin to take into account the costs to the individual for health care, loss of function and quality of life. Research and education are necessary to prevent sports injuries and develop new ways to care for those who sustain injuries in order to improve outcomes and help people return to active lives as quickly as possible.

Who benefits from this organization?

The public -- through access to resources necessary to maintain a healthy, active lifestyle.

What are the goals of the Aspen Sports Medicine Foundation?

1. To function as a resource to the public, providing education and resource materials on fitness, sports training, safety and prevention of athletic injuries.
Special programs for the public are aimed at encouraging a healthy life style for active people of all ages. These programs include lectures in sports safety, rehabilitation, nutrition, and specific topics such as osteoporosis prevention, helmet use in sports, etc. The initial educational objective is to create a series of educational programs that address the cause, effect and prevention of sport-related injuries. The programs benefit community members and visitors by educating them on sports specific injuries and in the steps that can be taken toward injury prevention. The concept of the community seminar is to emphasize injury prevention by encouraging each participant to take a proactive role in one's own health and conditioning. We are developing an entire series of summer and winter sports injury courses covering skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking, running and others. Each of the presentations address various cross sections of the community including youth groups and the adolescent population, senior citizens, women, ski professionals (instructors, ski patrol), etc. When space permits, we plan to develop a resource library for the public. The library will have up-to-date information for the sports enthusiast, including books, journals and computer access to on-line information.

2. To perform scientific research to enhance effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of health care and to develop innovative treatment techniques which speed the recovery from injuries and improve outcomes for those who sustain injuries.
The Foundation fosters the development and initiation of new ideas and approaches to sports medicine by stimulating and sponsoring appropriate clinical and laboratory research. Because of recent structural changes in the U.S. medical system, now more than ever before, physicians and hospitals must strive to identify the most effective treatment pathways and offer these treatments to their patients, rather than allow managed care to dictate the decision making process. This can be accomplished through research efforts designed to explore and enhance the quality and efficiency of the care provided and to validate the need for certain treatment pathways for special populations, such as those sustaining sports injuries. Our research is changing how orthopaedic care is delivered across the country.

3. To provide education to health care professionals, including physicians, physical therapists, nurses and other health care professionals.
The Foundation's goal is to advance scholarship in the recognition, treatment, rehabilitation and prevention of sports injuries. Sports medicine as a specialty area of practice is no longer restricted to the treatment of athletic injuries. It also includes work in conditioning, training, injury prevention, rehabilitation, use and abuse of drugs, sports psychology and nutrition. Professionals in the field must have the opportunity to continually update their skills and knowledge in this ever-changing discipline. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive educational program with stimulating topics that cover the basics of sports medicine and what is new and innovative in the field. The work of the Foundation provides opportunities for professional advancement for sports physicians, physical therapists, registered nurses, trainers, emergency room staff along with family practitioners, radiologists, and other health care professionals.

4. The Foundation's sponsorship and governance of the Aspen Sports Medicine Foundation Fellowship is part of the educational program. The Fellowship provides an opportunity for orthopaedic surgeons who have completed their orthopaedic surgery training to acquire added clinical competence as a specialist in the field of orthopaedic sports medicine. Through the program, two orthopaedic surgeons are selected annually to work with the Aspen faculty for a year of subspecialty training in sports medicine and sports trauma. The fellowship began in the early 1970's under the direction of Robert R. Oden, MD. Aspen offers an exciting and challenging experience for these physicians with our large skiing population, high school varsity athletics, a very active local populace and established referral practices. The fellowship meets the stringent criteria for accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), the federal council which reviews all fellowships in medicine and surgery. A comprehensive teaching curriculum for sports medicine and sports trauma has been developed consisting of didactic lectures, weekly x-ray conference, journal club, audio-visual training tapes, hands-on cadaver dissections, as well as an extensive experiential clinical experience. The fellowship attracts top level candidates from the most prestigious orthopaedic residency programs in the country. Former fellows rate the program highly and have gone on to successful careers in orthopaedic sports medicine practices.