Fellow’s experience
We're committed to providing our fellows with innovative, exciting and enjoyable training experiences that are both challenging and rewarding. You’ll enjoy a flexible, supportive and responsive learning environment within a unique approach to education. Our main goal is to provide training so that fellows will become leaders and educators in the sports world and have the ability to work in any practice of sports medicine.
We have great diversity in our curriculum and experiences and encourage fellows to tailor their rotations to their interests and career goals. Fellows rotate through our two sports medicine clinics in Rockford. In addition, the fellows receive exposure to a wide variety of sports medicine opportunities, including team physician responsibilities, game coverage, concussion management, and development and implementation of medical coverage for mass participation events, including the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and several events at Mercyhealth Sportscore One and Two in Rockford.
Our sports medicine fellowship will cover NCAA Division III Rockford University sports, with experience evaluating and treating patient athletes with varied musculoskeletal complaints and concussion management. The fellows will also participate in athletics coverage of D155 high schools. Each fellow will be designated a high school for coverage and will be the main contact for all athletics injuries and concussions. In addition to high school and college level teams, our fellows will cover the Rockford IceHogs AHA team for home games and sports physicals. The fellows will also have opportunities to cover events for the Chicago Blackhawks.
Educational experience and curriculum
- Anatomy and OMT overview
- Physical and occupational therapy
- Orthopedic and orthopedic specialist
- Pain/spine clinic
- Foot and ankle/podiatry
- Nutrition
- Sports psychology
- Sports performance training
- Research/elective
Clinic experience
- William Schneider – Sports ortho
- James Krcik – Sports ortho
- Kari Chase – Podiatry
- Anthony Rizzo – Sports clinic
- Yaqoob Syed – Sports clinic
- Brian Michalsen – Sports clinic
- Rockford IceHogs – Physicals/training room/game coverage
- Rockford University training room – Weekly
- High school training room – Weekly
- Crystal Lake South High School
- Crystal Lake Central High School
- Prairie Ridge High School
- Cary-Grove High School
Fellowship experience
- The fellowship is ACGME-approved for two positions; both are year-long full-time positions.
- The fellow will have the following experiences:
- Involvement with semi-pro hockey: Rockford IceHogs
- Involvement with professional Chicago Blackhawks summer camp physicals and more
- Team physician for Division III Rockford University
- Participation in the planning and execution of the Chicago Marathon; each fellow will be a team lead for a medical tent
- Participate in surrounding area mass sporting events in Rockford
- Weekly sports medicine didactics
- Involvement in the Sports Performance Lab located in Sportscore Two
- Involvement with large scale sports tournaments at Sportscore One and Two
- Dedicated ultrasound experience