Newswise — Cindy J. Chang, MD, is serving as Team USA’s chief medical officer in London, managing a team of 80 primary care and orthopaedic physicians, athletic trainers, massage therapists, physical therapists, chiropractors and other medical providers. The team is providing care to more than 525 American athletes competing in the 2012 Olympic Games.

The 2011-12 President of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine, Dr. Chang is the first woman and first Chinese-American to hold the unpaid position with the US Olympic Committee.

Dr. Chang has long been considered a pioneer in her field, serving as one of the first female head team physicians for a Division I University. She served as head team physician at the University of California-Berkeley from 1995-2008, overseeing coverage for 27 intercollegiate sports. She continues to serve as a team physician at Cal.

Her involvement with Olympic competition dates back to serving as team physician with the 1998 and 2002 Paralympic teams. She also served as chief medical officer for the 2008 US Paralympic team in Beijing, working with top disabled athletes.

Dr. Chang will spend six weeks in London before, during and after the Games – handling everything from assisting the medical staff with attaining licensure to practice in the United Kingdom to touring medical facilities and hospitals to setting up and overseeing Team USA’s sports medicine clinic in the Olympic Village.

One of her many roles is serving as medical spokesperson, which may include having to comment on an athlete’s medical condition after an injury or illness that affects his ability to compete.

“I really hope that I am not seen, nor heard at these Games!” said Dr. Chang. “Let the athletes be in the spotlight—they are deserving of the attention!”

Besides Dr. Chang, a number of other AMSSM members are volunteering as physicians with the 2012 Olympic Games, for Team USA and other countries, including C. Mark Chassay, MD, who is head team physician at the University of Texas and is serving as the Chief Medical Officer for the London Paralympics. Others include: Eric Anish, MD, Pittsburgh, Penn., Jim Barrett, MD, University of Oklahoma; JoAnne Allen, MD, Wilmington, NC; Suzy Kim, MD, Long Beach, Calif; and Ola Ronsen, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer for the Norwegian Olympic Committee.

The AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of sports medicine physicians whose members are dedicated to education, research, advocacy, and the care of athletes of all ages. Founded in 1991, the AMSSM is now comprised of more than 2,100 sports medicine physicians whose goal is to provide a link between the rapidly expanding core of knowledge related to sports medicine and its application to patients in a clinical setting.

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