In July 2008, Dr. Prentice Steffen became the first American physician in the Tour de France’s 100+ year history to care for a team competing in that prestigious race. He serves as chief medical officer for Slipstream Sports which owns and operates Garmin-Sharp Professional cycling team. Learn how Dr. Steffen became involved with the medical side of cycling and how he works to keep pro-athletes in peak condition on the road and at home.
ABOUT MEDICINE OF CYCLING We are working to improve processes that can have a meaningful impact on the way care is delivered to cycling athletes
Dr. Anna Abramson is an attending physician and Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco who enjoys improving processes that can have a meaningful impact on patient health and how tasks are accomplished in the medical world. She likes to spend her spare time hiking with her dog and riding her bike.
Mr. Mark Abramson has started several successful software firms and served as President of USA Cycling from 2008-2010. In his free time, he also likes to ride his bike and enjoys helping others succeed in their cycling endeavors.
Mr. Abramson was the director of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference for ten years where he gained invaluable experience in leadership, management, and communication within the world of cycling. These experiences and his dedication to the sport led him to further volunteerism in USA Cycling on the Board of Trustees for Collegiate Cycling and serving on the Board of Directors as the current Vice-Chairman. He has become intimately versed in the complex tasks of the organization which is dedicated to success of US cyclists on every level.
During his time as the race director for collegiate competitions in the eastern United States, Mr. Abramson helped to arrange care for cyclists involved in collisions and injuries during the races. He understood the impact of health, time, and money that resulted from each of these misfortunes and sought to improve outcomes of these events by partnering with local medical professionals in the field. He was fortunate enough to work with Dr. James Watkins, a trauma surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Dr. James Watkins is an avid adventurer, enjoys many outdoor activities including skiing and cycling, and shares Mr. Abramson’s vision of expanding their local model to a national level to impact those who are most at need for an organized approach to their health, professional US cyclists.
For the past few years, Drs. Abramson, Watkins, and Mr. Mark Abramson have been discussing the scope of the problem with professional team owners, managers, doctors, many within the national governing body and competitive cyclists. The two doctors and current Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of USA Cycling see themselves in the optimal position to work closely with professional teams and team physicians to understand the pitfalls of the current system and create a usable model in real-time to improve outcomes of US athletes.
USA Cycling has been an integral partner in this endeavor as we both continue to improve health and health care for our cycling athletes.
http://www.medicineofcycling.com/about/
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