Gymnastics Medicine Education and Research 7th Annual Symposium

Overview

Join our multidisciplinary team at the 7th Annual Gymnastics Medicine Symposium on Education and Research, hosted by Boston Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine Division and The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention, on Thursday, October 9th and Friday, October 10th. This symposium will feature expert sports medicine providers in the field of gymnastics medicine (a subspecialty of sports medicine). Gymnastics medicine is a new subspecialty of sports medicine/orthopedics and provides diagnosis, knowledge, and education around gymnastics-specific injuries and prevention.

This symposium will feature two days of jam-packed evidence-based medicine day filled with gymnastics specific injuries, diagnosis, prevention, nutrition, mental health, and more, geared towards medical providers.  This year day 2 will be a hands-on experience.

About The Courses
This year’s conference will be hybrid (in-person/virtual). In-person will be held at Deveber Conference Room, 9 Hope Avenue Waltham, MA 02453. This course will be available on-demand for all paid attendees for six weeks after the course.

Learning Objectives: 

At the conclusion of this educational program, participants will be able to:

1. Understand gymnastics specific injury diagnoses and prevention
2. Explain the fueling and nutritional needs for gymnasts
3. Understand mental health concerns of gymnasts
4. Demonstrate and perform gymnastics specific physical therapy exercises
5. Understand the management and onsite evaluation requirements for gymnastics competition medical coverage
6. Explain the considerations for a female athlete and the signs and symptoms of RED-S
7. Review over surgical special considerations for gymnastics specific injuries

Physician
Boston Children’s Hospital designates this live activity for a maximum of 15.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits ™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in this activity.

Physician Assistant
Boston Children’s Hospital has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credits for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 15.00 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Dietitian
Dietitians completing this course receive 15.00 ACE CE continuing education credits.

Physical Therapist
Physical Therapists completing this course receive 15.00 APT MA CE continuing education credits.

Athletic Trainer
Boston Children’s Hospital (BOC AP# P10089) is approved by the Board of Certification, Inc. to provide continuing education to Athletic Trainers. This program is eligible for a maximum of 15.00 EBP Category hours/CEUs. ATs should claim only those hours actually spent in the educational program.

Donald Bae, MD, is the Director of the Orthopaedic Hand and Upper Extremity Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and Professor of Orthopaedics at Harvard Medical School. After completing fellowship training in both pediatric orthopaedics and hand surgery, he has served as a full-time clinical associate at Boston Children’s Hospital, caring for a variety of congenital, traumatic, neuromuscular, and sports-related conditions of the pediatric hand and upper limb. He also serves as a consultant to the Advanced Fetal Care Center, providing consultation for patients/families diagnosed prenatally with congenital differences. In addition to patient care, his clinical research focuses on pediatric upper limb conditions, including congenital differences of the hand. He has authored over 140 peer-reviewed publications and co-authored the textbook entitled Pediatric Hand and Upper Limb Surgery: A Practical Guide. He is Co-PI of a multicenter prospective registry of Congenital Upper Limb Differences (the CoULD registry). He is also co-principal investigator of multicenter prospective registries on distal radius fractures as well as osteochondritis dissecans of the elbow in children. He serves as Associate Clinical Director of his hospital’s simulation program, co-Director of the Harvard Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship, and Treasurer of the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America. He has been an invited lecturer nationally and internationally and has previously served as Director of the International Pediatric Orthopaedic Symposium.

Emily Barnhart is a board certified Sports Dietitian with Memorial Hermann Rockets Sports Medicine Institute.  She has worked with teams at the high school, collegiate, professional, and Olympic level, including the 2022-2024 quad with USA Volleyball.  As a former competitive gymnast, she enjoys any opportunity to return to this sport and has completed additional education in eating disorders, RED-S, and body image work to support these athletes.  Emily believes all foods can fit in a performance-based diet.

Christian Dawson, PT, is a graduated from Otago University in New Zealand, earing honors as a top clinician in his class. He has a manual therapy background in sport and spine and has worked with professional athletes and many high-level elite gymnasts in both injury prevention and rehabilitation roles. His approach integrates clinical expertise with performance optimization to support athletes at every stage.

Freda Dreher, MD, is currently semi-retiring from her medical career in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation while she spends time on her home farm, “cross training” by taking care of horses, goats, and chickens, tending to her ridiculously large garden, and stacking firewood. When not at the office or on the farm, she can be found at the gym either coaching gymnasts or training for her next event. 

Garrett Eggleston, MS, has a background is in biomechanics, sports science and data analytics. Special interest in load monitoring, return to play biomechanical testing, injury prevention analysis, and sports performance. Eggleston has been working with a gymnastics population for over 3 years and coached both compulsory and optional gymnastics during their undergraduate studies.  

Niki Fokken, MS, CSCS, is a Sports Performance Specialist with a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology and certification as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). As a former collegiate athlete in basketball and track & field, Niki brings both personal and professional experience to her work with athletes. With multiple years of coaching and performance training, she has developed a special focus in basketball, volleyball, dance, and gymnastics. Her passion lies in helping athletes at all levels maximize their strength, movement quality and competitive performance.

Annie Francis is an athletic trainer at The College of William and Mary and works with the men’s and women’s gymnastics teams. Annie was once a gymnast, coach and now is an athletic trainer for gymnastics. Annie holds her B.S. in athletic training from Western Carolina University and her M.S. in Kinesiology and Recreation from Illinois State University. She holds an annual spine boarding and pit extraction for local first responders and coaches as well as is a part of the Gymnastics Medicine: Medical Provider Certification community.

Lequita Williams-Golden is a board certified, sports trained, Physical Therapist currently practicing at Memorial Hermann Rockets Sports Medicine Institute Memorial City in Houston, TX. As a doctor of physical therapy,  Lequita’s understanding of cheerleading mechanics coupled with her background as an NCAA competitive gymnast and formally trained dancer allowed her to develop a niche for treating gymnasts, dancers and cheerleaders.

Benton Heyworth, MD, is an Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and an Attending Orthopedic Surgeon in the Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he serves as the Director of Orthopedic Sports Medicine and the Associate Fellowship Director. His education consisted of an undergraduate degree in History at Princeton University, followed by medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians & Surgeons, and residency at the Hospital for Special Surgery, after which he completed fellowships in Sports Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Pediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital. He specializes in pediatric orthopaedic surgery, pediatric orthopaedic trauma, and arthroscopy/sports medicine surgery in the pediatric, adolescent and young adult populations. He has served on the Board of Directors for PRISM (Pediatric Research in Sports Medicine), the Chair of the Mentorship & Leadership Committee for POSNA, and is the founder or member of a number of multicenter study groups investigating a wide range of topics, including patellar instability (JUPITER), adolescent clavicle fractures (FACTS), adolescent ACL (SATURN), pediatric meniscus tears (RAMMP), knee OCD (ROCK), peds ACL (PLUTO), medial epicondyle fractures (MEMO), pediatric trauma and infection (CORTICES), and pediatric arthroscopy complications (SCORE).

Torrance Laury, MD
Non Operative Sports Medicine

Dr. Laury is a board-certified physician in Family Medicine and is CAQ certified in Sports Medicine. His particular areas of interest are in injury prevention in youth sports, competitive gymnastics, chronic injuries due to overuse, and musculoskeletal ultrasound.

Dr. Laury serves as the team physician for the USA Gymnastics Men’s National Team.
His primary orthopedic practice is at the Northside Hospital Orthopedic Institute in the metro Atlanta area, where he also works with Georgia State University athletics as well as with local high school athletic departments. Furthermore, he serves as the Assistant Program Director for the Northside Hospital Sports Medicine Fellowship.

Mandy Oas, MS-AT, ATC, LAT, is a certified athletic trainer with specialized experience in collegiate gymnastics. She holds a Master of Science in Athletic Training from Northern Arizona University and completed a year-long clinical immersion at Stanford. Mandy has worked with athletes at Utah State, the University of Louisville, and now Towson University Gymnastics through MedStar Health. She is certified in dry needling with specializations in the lumbopelvic hip complex and craniofascial techniques.

Michael O’Brien, MD, is an attending physician in the Division of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital, and an Assistant Professor in Orthopedics at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of the Sports Concussion Clinic, and previously served as the Associate Program Director for the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship Program at Children’s. He is board certified in Internal Medicine with added qualifications in Sports Medicine. Dr. O’Brien completed his residency at Brown University is board certified in Internal Medicine. He has added qualifications in Primary Care Sports Medicine after completing his fellowship training at Boston Children’s Hospital. Dr. O’Brien is the team physician for the Roxbury Latin School and a staff physician at The Micheli Center for Sports Injury Prevention in Waltham. He is proud to be a longtime part of the medical coverage team for events such as the Boston Marathon finish line and medical tent, the Boston Ballet, Bay State Games, and various synchronized ice skating and track and field championships. Dr. O’Brien lectures at local and national conferences on various sports medicine topics, with particular expertise in the evaluation and management of sports related concussions.

Mathew Power, PT, DPT, is a licensed physical therapist with a strong background in gymnastics and coaching. He specializes in rehabilitating athletes recovering from sports-related injuries, with a particular focus on gymnastics and dance. Matthew earned his Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree and is dedicated to providing personalized care that addresses the unique needs of each patient. His approach emphasizes restoring functional movement, preventing future injuries, and enhancing athletic performance. Outside of his clinical practice, Matthew is passionate about promoting healthy lifestyles and remains actively involved in the gymnastics community.

Stewart Pritchard, MS, PhD, is a senior research associate at the Center for Injury Biomechanics in the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. His research has focused on characterizing head acceleration exposure data in youth and professional sports, including football, soccer, hockey, motorsports, and gymnastics and his doctoral thesis aimed to develop REBOUND, a biomechanically-informed post-concussion return-to-sport protocol for gymnasts. Stewart has a passion for injury prevention and sport performance research in gymnastics. Since competing with the United States Trampoline National Team from 2012 to 2017, he has continued to support the gymnastics community in many roles. He has coached athletes to state, regional, and national titles at the development and elite levels of Trampoline and Tumbling, and currently serves as a judge for local, regional, and national Trampoline and Tumbling and Acrobatic Gymnastics competitions. He is also a member of the Trampoline and Tumbling Junior Judges Council and serves as the Technical Chair for North Carolina Trampoline and Tumbling. As a researcher, he aims to utilize wearable instrumentation to develop evidence-based injury prevention and rehabilitation strategies for acrobatic athletes to ultimately improve sport safety for gymnasts.

Laura Moretti Reece, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN earned her Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York University. A Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics, she specializes in performance nutrition and the treatment of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs), disordered eating, and eating disorders in athletes.

She previously served as Lead Dietitian for the Female Athlete Program at Boston Children’s Hospital and is now the Director of Nutrition at the Women’s Health, Sports & Performance (WHSP) Institute in Boston. Laura is also the Owner and Founder of Laura Moretti Nutrition LLC, a Boston-based group practice, and serves as a consulting dietitian for the Boston Ballet Company and US Rowing.

Nationally, she contributes her expertise as a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic REDs Expert Advisory Panel. She has also held leadership roles as Co-Chair of the International Academy of Eating Disorders’ Sport and Exercise Special Interest Group and as Co-Chair of the 2019 Female Athlete Conference.

A triathlete and multiple-time Boston Marathon qualifier and finisher, Laura brings both professional expertise and personal athletic experience to her work.

Yuka Sugiura is a Neuro Performance Coach specializing in brain-centered training to enhance performance and optimize recovery for gymnasts. Her approach complements physical therapy and strength & conditioning by assessing and training the specific neural systems that regulate muscle tone and function, coordination and reflexive stability. She also works with coaches to apply brain-based techniques to accelerate change – from flexibility to skill acquisition. She has worked with athletes in NCAA programs, USA Gymnastics National and World teams, and multiple Olympians. With this highly specialized and adaptable approach, she equips coaches and athletes with strategies to boost performance, build resistance to injury, and support long, healthy careers.

Yuka Sugiura uses applied neuroscience to help gymnasts boost all aspects of performance, from flexibility and stability to speed and power, helping them do more with less, and ultimately making this extremely difficult sport a little bit easier.

Maggie Tamburro is a former NCAA gymnast with a PhD in bioengineering focused on tendon biology and biomechanics. Her research explores mechanistic drivers of tendon disease including exercise-related tendon changes and the role of extracellular matrix proteins in tendon healing. She is motivated and intrigued by the poor intrinsic healing capacity of tendons and the intersection of hormones and tendon health. After completing medical school, she hopes to pursue a career as a surgeon-scientist, bridging the gap between basic science and clinical care. As a lifelong lover of gymnastics and an NCAA gymnastics judge, she is thrilled to be a part of the Gymnastics Medicine nonprofit and serves as a leader of the student group.

Hanwen Wong earned her Doctorate in Physical Therapy at the Mayo Clinic School of Health Sciences. She completed the M Health Fairview Orthopedic Residency where she received in-depth training in surgical and non-surgical orthopedic rehabilitation. A long-time dancer and choreographer, Hanwen is passionate about treating artistic athletes.

Disclosures

Boston Children’s Hospital adheres to all ACCME Essential Areas, Standards, and Policies. It is Boston Children’s policy that those who have influenced the content of a CME activity (e.g. planners, faculty, authors, reviewers and others) disclose all relevant financial relationships with commercial entities so that Boston Children’s may identify and resolve any conflicts of interest prior to the activity. These disclosures will be provided in the activity materials along with disclosure of any commercial support received for the activity. Additionally, faculty members have been instructed to disclose any limitations of data and unlabeled or investigational uses of products during their presentations.

The following planners, speakers, and content reviewers, on behalf of themselves, have reported the following relevant financial relationships with any entity producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on patients: 

Name, Degree	Entity Name, or None
Elspeth Hart, DScPAs, PA-C, MPAS, ATC, LAT	None
Carl Gustafson, PT, ATC, LAT, CSCS	None
Laura Moretti Reece, MS, RD, CSSD, LDN	None
Annie Francis, ATC, LAT, MS	None
Sarah Jackson, MD	None
Stewart Pritchard, PhD, MS	None
Dennis Kramer, MD	Educational support, Arthrex; Educational support, smith nephew;
Mathew Power, PT, DPT	None
Maggie Tamburo, PhD, MSE	None
Melissa Christino, MD	Publishing Royalties- Springer Inc
Mandy Oas MS-AT, ATC, LAT	None
Benton Heyworth, MD	consultant and stock owner, Imagen Technologies, Inc; Royalties (textbook-related), Springer Science & Business Media;
Kaysha Bates, PT, DPT, SCS, CSCS	None
Emily Barnhart MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS, ISAK-1	None
Fanchon Ohlrogge, MA, ATC	None
Freda L Dreher, MD	None
Garrett Eggleston	None
Christian Dawson	None
Hawen Wong	None
Matthew Milewski, MD	None
Donald Bae, MD	None
Jamie Broz, M.Ed., ATC	None
Kerry Bair, RD, LDN, MPH, CSSD, CPH, CHES	None
Michael O’Brien, MD	None
Ezara Greene, PT, DPT, SCS, NREMT, CDNT	None
Yuka Sugiura, Neuro Performance Coach	None
Shawn Cameron, MS, ATC, LAT	None
Alyssa Herrera-Set, PT, DPT, SCS, NCPT	None
Torrance Laury, MD	None
Nikki Fokken	None
Lequita Golden PT, DPT, SCS, MED, MBA,	None

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