Sports Medicine Fellowship

Sports medicine provider examining patient

The Department of Family Medicine sponsors a one-year ACGME-Accredited Sports Medicine Fellowship. The program holds clinics at OHSU Family Medicine at Gabriel Park, the OHSU Human Performance Lab on Marquam Hill, and Orthopaedics at the Center for Health and Healing

Established in 2009 by Dr. Charles Webb, the OHSU Sports Medicine Fellowship has a 100 percent board pass rate and we have trained fellows from Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Pediatric specialties. We collaborate with the PeaceHealth Sports Medicine Fellowship in Vancouver, Washington for combined didactic sessions.   

Our program: 

  • Provides diverse clinical experiences for fellows across different areas of Sports Medicine
  • Understands unique aspects of comprehensive primary care for athletes and active individuals.
  • Emphasizes the role of exercise on health promotion/disease management and the ability to prescribe an individualized exercise program for each patient
  • Masters injury prevention, management, and rehabilitation of common exercise and sports-related acute and chronic injuries
  • Fosters experts in the use of ultrasound for diagnostic applications and injection guidance
  • Encourages fellows to be involved in service and leadership at a national level for the promotion of Sports Medicine as a medical specialty

Our clinical experience includes Portland State University, Lewis and Clark College, local high schools, the Portland Marathon, and the Shamrock Half Marathon. 

Fellowship graduates will be qualified and expected to sit for the Sports Medicine Certificate of Added Qualification examination under the American Board of Family Medicine. 

Fellow schedules are set at the beginning of the year. We have rotations through the different Sports Medicine faculty and Orthopedic faculty to increase learning opportunities. Like many sports programs, fall is very busy with more sports, physicals, training rooms, etc. Below is an example of what a list looks like:

  • One day with Orthopedic Sports Medicine or other Ortho subspecialty
  • Half day in the OHSU Human Performance Lab – supervising treadmill tests, VO2 max testing, and muscular myopathy evaluations
  • Half day in the Primary specialty – Primary Care clinic or Emergency Department shift
  • Half day of Fellow Sports clinic – where fellow is precepted by Sports Medicine attending
  • Half day of didactics
  • One and a half days per week with Sports Medicine faculty in Sports Clinic
  • Two college training rooms per week – late afternoon
  • High school training room (fall and winter)

We have several blocks at the end of year for elective slots. This is very flexible – allowing a fellow to add experiences that they feel they want extra training in or to complete their training prior to graduation.

The curriculum is designed to meet all the ACGME requirements for Primary Care Sports Medicine. We are proud to report a 100 percent board/CAQ pass rate since inception in 2010. Our didactic schedule is set for Wednesday afternoons. We collaborate with the Peace Health Sports Fellowship run by Dr. Kevin DeWeber. The fellowship buys all text books for the required readings (5 texts for AY 2020/21).

  • Reading block (1 to 2 hours) on a diverse offering of readings (article, text chapters, etc.)
  • Reviewed in person with Sports Faculty
  • Weekly quizzes on learning content
  • Ultrasound block (1 to 2 hours) – Fellows review the Jacobsen text and the AMSSM video series. Then in the hands-on session each week, faculty reviews the focus area and fellows scan with direct feedback. Cases are reviewed and procedures discussed. 

Teaching is a focus of our fellowship. There are many opportunities to lead education sessions as a fellow. Some of these are designed to help fellows master content by being an educator and leading sessions with other learners. 

  • Family Medicine clerkship shoulder exam lecture
  • Family Medicine clerkship injection workshop lecture
  • Casting and splinting workshops

Cadaver experiences. We have multiple experiences in our state-of-the-art VirtuOHSU cadaver lab. This includes, as part of our AMSSM Sports Ultrasound Course, workshops and teaching sessions. Fellows average 8 to 10 sessions in the cadaver lab over the year.

Fellows are assigned to one college for the entirety of the program. Lewis and Clark College and Portland State University are the two main programs. Both provide a diverse offering of sports and events. Fellows are the only learners at each institution. There are two training rooms per week (Ortho Day and Primary Care Sports Day). Fellows are an integral part of the clinical Sports Medicine team. 

We work with several local high schools in the Portland Metro and Beaverton areas. Fellows are involved in training rooms and event coverage as well as mass physicals and events/tournaments at the high school level. 

We have multiple mass participation events and are always looking to expand and evolve in different events. The following is a list of some of the events we cover. 

  • Portland Marathon
  • Shamrock Run
  • IronMan World Championships
  • Oregon State High School Wrestling tournament

The following conferences are paid for fellows to attend annually:

  • AMSSM National Conference
  • University of Washington Sports Cardiology Conference
  • ACSM National Conference (if fellow gets a paper/case accepted for presentation)
  • OHSU AMSSM Sports Ultrasound Course – fellows are used as faculty for the first day of the course then as attendees for a 4-day course we host at our institution in collaboration with AMSSM.

Applicants must have completed a Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatric, or Emergency Medicine residency program prior to fellowship. At this time we do not accept residents from Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation programs. Applicants must also be able to obtain an Oregon Medical License. Applications will be accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). Once all application materials are received, chosen applicants will be contacted about interviewing process and dates.

We accept residents on a first-come first-serve basis for visiting rotations. Contact us for more information.

Our fellowship participates in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) Specialty Match process. Applicants must register with the NRMP. There are deadlines and a registration fee. Please visit nrmp.org for more information.

The ERAS system opens for applications yearly on July 1. Our deadline for applications is October 31 of that same year. We require the following documentation for your application:

  • Medical Diploma
  • Medical License (if applicable)
  • ERAS Code of Ethics 

We do accept visiting residents for 2-week rotations based on availability. If you are interested please contact us with dates you are interested in and a copy of your CV.