Wednesday, September 16, 2015

What is the Young Athlete Center?

Clinicians from Washington University and St. Louis Children’s Hospital have teamed up to form the all new Young Athlete Center, a program designed to provide comprehensive care for pediatric and adolescent athletes of all abilities with sports-related injuries. The Young Athlete Center has a multidisciplinary treatment approach, working in collaboration with physicians and clinicians from a variety of specialties, including orthopedics, sports medicine, physical therapy, adolescent medicine, pain management, sports psychology, rheumatology, cardiology, nutrition and more. Together this multidisciplinary team provides care for any health issues a young athlete may encounter.

The Young Athlete Center offers:
  • Same-day appointments
  • Comprehensive evaluations by Washington University orthopedic and sports medicine physicians
  • On-site radiology, imaging, casting and splinting services
  • Nonsurgical management of sports-related injuries
  • Minimally invasive, surgical treatment of sports-related injuries, with same-day discharge
  • Pediatric specialty care of fractures
  • Sports-related concussion assessments
  • Orthopedics, sports medicine, physical therapy, pain management, sports psychology, adolescent medicine, nutrition, rheumatology, cardiology, and others

The Young Athlete Center is directed by Jeffrey Nepple, MD, a pediatric orthopedic and sports medicine physician, and Mark Halstead, MD, a non-surgical sports medicine physician, both physicians at Washington University Orthopedics. The Young Athlete Center is located at the all new St. Louis Children’s Specialty Care Center in West County, with additional services at St. Louis Children’s Hospital in the Central West End.

Injury Prevention Education
The Young Athlete Center is also committed to improving injury prevention in youth sports. Nearly 3.5 million injuries occur in youth sports each year, with up to half of these being overuse injuries that could be prevented. The Young Athlete Center provides education on sports injuries and injury prevention through many methods, including social media, blog posts and public events. The Young Athlete Center hosted its first event, PlayFit, Stay Fit! on August 8, from 9am-noon at the new St. Louis Children’s Specialty Care Center. This  free, open house event included lectures from Washington University clinicians on injury prevention, sports concussions, sports anxiety and more. Participants had a chance to meet Orlando Pace, former offensive tackle for the St. Louis Rams, the official mascots of the St. Louis Rams and Blues, enjoyed wholesome snacks and refreshments, took home great giveaways, played fun games and activities, and took a tour of the new St. Louis Children’s Specialty Care Center. The Young Athlete Center also plans to host a lecture series for parents and coaches on common sports topics in the coming months; additional information on this lecture series will be announced soon.  

More Information:

No comments:

Post a Comment