The basketball teams still need to play their way in, but a team of physicians already knows they’ll be on hand for the NCAA basketball tournament’s regional championship next weekend in St. Louis. The sports medicine specialists in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will coordinate care at the NCAA Division I Men’s Midwest Regional March 23-25 at the Edward Jones Dome.
“The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the premier events on the national sports calendar, and it’s very exciting to be a part of it,” says Matthew J. Matava, M.D., associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at the School of Medicine and a sports medicine physician at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
The NCAA Midwest Regional is hosted by the St. Louis-based Missouri Valley Conference. After the regional concludes next weekend, the Washington University sports medicine specialists will continue to work with the conference, providing care for the MVC’s annual “Arch Madness” tournament at Scottrade Center and future NCAA basketball tournaments hosted by the conference in St. Louis, including the Women’s Final Four in 2009 and another Midwest Regional in 2010.
“We are very pleased that physicians from one of the leading health care institutions in the nation will provide medical support services for student-athletes competing in the NCAA and conference tournaments,” says Doug Elgin, commissioner of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Sports medicine specialists from Washington University have provided medical care at Super Bowls, Stanley Cup playoff games and for other special events in St. Louis, including the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Washington University physicians provide medical care for the St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Blues.
Matava is head team physician for the Rams, assistant team physician for the Blues and head team physician for the Department of Athletics at Washington University. He will be joined next weekend by Washington University colleagues Rick W. Wright, M.D., head team physician for the Blues and assistant team physician for the Rams, and sports medicine specialists Mark Halstead, M.D., and Brian Gruber, M.D.
Washington University School of Medicine’s full-time and volunteer faculty physicians also are the medical staff of Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals. The School of Medicine is one of the leading medical research, teaching and patient care institutions in the nation, currently ranked fourth in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Through its affiliations with Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals, the School of Medicine is linked to BJC HealthCare.