Sports Medicine Under Fire

Yale’s Athletic Medicine Department has come under intense scrutiny in the past months as Yale’s injury plague derailed its football and basketball campaigns among others.  As the YDN reported, the department is understaffed, underfunded and most importantly has been misdiagnosing athletes.  The fact that Rafe Chapple, while in contention for the starting QB position, has to circumvent Yale’s internal process to get an MRI scheduled is appalling.  The trainers and physical therapists should be vocal advocates for getting the athletes scheduled for diagnostic imaging procedures as soon as possible.  Shoulders and knees are complex joints that demand specialists to properly diagnose ailments as even MRIs can fail to show the true extent of damage.  This will require bringing in additional orthopaedic surgeons to consult on a part time basis as Dr. Ruwe alone cannot solve the issues.  Clearly the department needs more hands on deck to manage the massive inflow of athletes (Qpac interns do not count) as well as an overhaul of the entire infrastructure.  We can’t let the strength and conditioning department off the hook either as injury prevention begins there.