Latest / UF Health MedEd Cast / It Goes Beyond the Game: Dr. Zaremski’s Trip to Turkey for the U16 National Girls' Soccer Team

Transcript

It Goes Beyond the Game: Dr. Zaremski’s Trip to Turkey for the U16 National Girls' Soccer Team · UF Health MedEd Cast

• 0:03
  Melanie Cole (Host): Welcome to UF Health Med EdCast with UF Health Shan's Hospital.
• 0:07
  I'm Melanie Cole, and today we're rocking it as it goes beyond the game.
• 0:12
  Dr.
• 0:12
  Zakys trip to Turkey for the U 16 National Girls Soccer Team is
• 0:17
  what we're talking about today.
• 0:19
  And joining me is Dr.
• 0:20
  Jason Zremski.
• 0:22
  He's a clinical professor of sports medicine in the
• 0:25
  department of pm and r and chief.
• 0:27
  In the Division of Sports Medicine And the medical director
• 0:30
  of outpatient clinics, Dr.
• 0:33
  Zuki, it's such a pleasure to have you with us as we get into today's discussion.
• 0:38
  I'm so excited about this.
• 0:40
  You work in orthopedics and sports medicine and it's quite extensive.
• 0:44
  How did you know this was your area that you were passionate about?
• 0:49
  Dr Jason Zaremski: Well, thanks for having me today.
• 0:51
  Appreciate it.
• 0:52
  I'm a former athlete.
• 0:53
  I played, baseball in college.
• 0:55
  I was a catcher.
• 0:56
  and I actually hurt my elbow my junior year and I sustained a, partial tear
• 1:02
  of what's called the UCL or the Tommy John Ligament that you hear so much
• 1:05
  about with baseball players these days.
• 1:08
  And I actually started spending a lot of time with our athletic trainer
• 1:12
  And that really got me interested in more in why did athletes get hurt?
• 1:15
  How does our bodies work?
• 1:17
  why do we get musculoskeletal injuries?
• 1:19
  And that actually was the first-time I really thought about.
• 1:22
  helping athletes from the other side, if you will, kind of
• 1:25
  being the team behind the team.
• 1:27
  So that really got me interested in medicine and really sports
• 1:32
  medicine at that point.
• 1:33
  I was way back in the mid to late 1990s.
• 1:36
  and as a result of that, I just kind of pursued my passion of if I
• 1:40
  couldn't be playing for a baseball team, I wanted to help take care of
• 1:43
  the baseball player, so to speak.
• 1:45
  And that kind of got me on the path to sports medicine.
• 1:47
  Melanie Cole (Host): That's a very cool story.
• 1:49
  As someone in the field myself, I know the allure, it's really exciting to work
• 1:54
  with these athletes, whether they're young or collegiate or professional.
• 1:58
  So when you think of your greatest strengths when it comes
• 2:01
  to treating these athletes.
• 2:03
  Tell us what you think Those are And also challenges 'cause we both know
• 2:07
  some of the challenges that come with working with people with such discipline,
• 2:11
  such motivation and dedication and dealing with injuries is never fun.
• 2:17
  Dr Jason Zaremski: No, it's not.
• 2:18
  And, part of my role is obviously to make the right diagnosis, but
• 2:23
  also in, particularly in sports medicine, it's a little tricky.
• 2:26
  Sometimes an injury, the treatment's very obvious.
• 2:30
  if someone sustained a major injury, a fracture, a complete terrible ligament.
• 2:36
  I'm referring them to my surgical colleagues that's a pretty obvious thing.
• 2:39
  But it's those in-between injuries.
• 2:41
  If there's a sprain, a recurrent injury, a strain, can you play safely?
• 2:47
  Can you return to competition?
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  And This is where one, I think having a.
• 2:53
  healthcare team that's looking out for your best interests.
• 2:55
  Number one is very important.
• 2:57
  Number two, knowing, can you push the injury a little bit or not.
• 3:01
  So are you safe to return to play or to competition?
• 3:05
  And then having, really good communication between the athlete.
• 3:08
  If parents are involved.
• 3:10
  at times you're gonna have a whole sports medicine team, your athletic trainer or
• 3:13
  physical therapist, physician, physician, non-operatively, physician operatively.
• 3:19
  And I think, understanding that an athlete, particularly someone who's in
• 3:23
  the middle of competition, it takes a lot to compete, particularly at a high level.
• 3:28
  So I think having someone who understands That is important.
• 3:32
  And honestly, the best thing is just being as communicative as possible to the
• 3:37
  athlete and anyone else that's involved.
• 3:39
  So we can make a good plan and try to get you back on the field or the court
• 3:44
  as quickly and as safely as possible.
• 3:46
  Melanie Cole (Host): Yes, return to play is always an interesting
• 3:49
  discussion with the people involved.
• 3:51
  Now you have some unique titles and associations, Dr.
• 3:55
  Zremski, and before we get into what it's like to work with a national soccer
• 3:59
  team, which I can't wait for, I'd like to know if you've ever had the opportunity
• 4:03
  to treat upper level athletes, and if so, briefly discuss the experience.
• 4:08
  Tell us about UF Health's partnership.
• 4:11
  As the medical provider for the United States, Olympic and Paralympic Committee.
• 4:16
  Dr Jason Zaremski: Sure.
• 4:17
  So UF Health is one of the United States, Olympic and Paralympic committee's,
• 4:21
  national Medical Network Partners.
• 4:24
  We're one of five national medical network partners in the United States,
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  and each National Medical network partner has a medical and clinical liaison.
• 4:33
  I am that person for UF Health.
• 4:35
  So from a medical side, what that means is anytime that there is a athlete.
• 4:42
  That, is through the U-S-O-P-C and needs to be evaluated.
• 4:46
  at U of Health I basically get contacted.
• 4:49
  We get a referral, and I review all the information for that athlete, And
• 4:53
  then I get them to the best possible expert we have here at U of Health.
• 4:58
  Whether it is in women's health, whether it's orthopedics, whether
• 5:02
  it's non-operative sports medicine, a neurological issue like a
• 5:05
  concussion or many other issues.
• 5:08
  That's really my role, in that partnership.
• 5:11
  it is very, humbling to be able to be kind of part of the team behind
• 5:15
  the team for UF Health to help treat our Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
• 5:20
  I've had the opportunity to do that as have a lot of my colleagues and it's
• 5:23
  really gratifying and quite honestly, it's really cool to see, an athlete that you
• 5:28
  may have helped treat just a little bit.
• 5:30
  And every four years you get to see 'em on the TV and possibly going for a medal
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  in some cases for the gold So, it's really a humbling and, awesome responsibility,
• 5:39
  but also very cool at the same time.
• 5:42
  I've been fortunate to treat some of these athletes, at U of Health as well as, in
• 5:46
  some of my volunteer roles for team USA.
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  So it's, a pretty fortunate thing and one that I don't take for granted.
• 5:53
  Melanie Cole (Host): That's so cool.
• 5:54
  So thank you for telling us about that.
• 5:57
  How exciting.
• 5:58
  Now, you recently traveled to Turkey with the U 16 Girls National team to watch
• 6:03
  them play against Spain, England, Denmark.
• 6:05
  How do you prepare for an international trip like this?
• 6:09
  Tell us a little bit about your role in Turkey and your
• 6:12
  experience working internationally.
• 6:15
  Dr Jason Zaremski: So, with US soccer, I am part of the volunteer,
• 6:21
  team physician pool for the U 15 through U 17 Women's national teams.
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  The team physician coordinator, who's the head team physician,
• 6:32
  who is a physician, New York, Dr.
• 6:33
  Melody Rubb.
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  Coordinates all of the care for all the international
• 6:38
  travel for these three teams.
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  I've been fortunate to be selected to go once or twice a
• 6:43
  year since 2022, for these teams.
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  And I just so happen to be selected for the trip to Turkey this past February.
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  so, This is now my entry, my fifth year, assisting Dr.
• 6:54
  Rubes as well as, these three, teams for our, future women's national players.
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  And honestly, a lot of the preparation comes from the guidance.
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  Of our head of, medical and athletic training and physical therapy,
• 7:12
  really our high performance team.
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  So we have a head, physical therapist.
• 7:16
  her name is Celeste Dix, and she coordinates everything for every camp,
• 7:20
  for every tournament on the medical side.
• 7:23
  We have meetings.
• 7:24
  Typically we'll have between one and two meetings at least a month before
• 7:27
  the trip, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on the experience of
• 7:32
  the high performance team That is going.
• 7:34
  as Dr.
• 7:34
  Rubish has had a really good job recruiting physicians have stayed
• 7:38
  with the teams over the years.
• 7:39
  A lot of us have gone on multiple trips now, so we are a little more experienced.
• 7:43
  And we have to be aware of things such as the nearest hospital, the languages,
• 7:49
  the emergency action plans on the fields And the hotels with travel.
• 7:55
  the age of the athletes.
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  Obviously for any athlete under 18, there are different, requirements and
• 8:00
  stipulations as opposed to athletes that are over 18, just in terms of,
• 8:05
  injury and coordination of care and if medication needs to be given.
• 8:09
  So there's a lot of, coordination, but quite honestly, and those of us in
• 8:15
  sports medicine know this, the biggest part of sports medicine, honestly,
• 8:18
  is preparation and communication.
• 8:20
  If we can do that, most of the time, outcomes are pretty good as long
• 8:24
  as we prepare in advance, which, we all do at all levels of sport.
• 8:29
  Melanie Cole (Host): Wow.
• 8:29
  So that's a lot of logistics and planning and that's so interesting.
• 8:35
  I, I imagine many people don't think about those kind of logistics, like
• 8:39
  where's the nearest healthcare And the language barriers And the age.
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  So certainly that's gonna be, you know, Parental consent, all of these things
• 8:47
  going into such a complex, situation.
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  So as we're trying to understand the range of medical expertise in the
• 8:54
  sports world And this multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach that goes into
• 9:00
  working with these high level athletes, tell us a little bit about how this
• 9:05
  experience with the youth soccer teams.
• 9:07
  Differ from your other experiences working in sports competitions events?
• 9:12
  I'm sure you've just been in so many of them.
• 9:15
  How is this really set apart?
• 9:18
  Dr Jason Zaremski: Well, I think in some ways there's a lot of commonalities.
• 9:22
  So when you travel with a team, whether it's team USA, the U 17 Women's
• 9:28
  Soccer team, or any other team, I.
• 9:31
  It always is the same in terms of you have to have really good communication.
• 9:35
  You have to have really good preparation, and you have to have really good e
• 9:37
  what's called emergency action plan.
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  So if there's an emergency that has occurred, What is the policy?
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  What is the preparation?
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  What do we need to do?
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  Have we communicated with our security team, with our high
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  performance team, et cetera?
• 9:48
  And that's pretty consistent for both teams.
• 9:51
  Now, that said, as you alluded to, there are gonna be subtle
• 9:54
  differences if you are in soccer with.
• 9:57
  Players that are under 18, that's very different than possibly let's
• 10:02
  say baseball players who are age 25.
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  So that's gonna be very different.
• 10:07
  so that's number one.
• 10:08
  number two, it's also thinking about things that may never happen
• 10:14
  but you're aware of, just in case.
• 10:15
  I'll give you a perfect example.
• 10:16
  When we were in Turkey, some of the, equipment.
• 10:21
  Some of the medical, training room, resources didn't arrive, so we ended
• 10:27
  up going to a pharmacy in Turkey.
• 10:29
  Get outta your phone, get on Google Translate.
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  And we had a good bunch of, in what the United States would be
• 10:35
  over-the-counter medication, whether it's some Tylenol or some Advil.
• 10:39
  We get a lot of blister care stuff 'cause there's soccer players who prevent
• 10:42
  blister care because we didn't have that.
• 10:45
  But that's something we had to be prepared for.
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  You had to think about such things as, okay, how can we pay for it?
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  'cause certain credit cards aren't taken in that country.
• 10:53
  you had to be able to figure out, okay, how much do I need for a 12 day
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  trip unless you go on multiple trips.
• 11:02
  So things like that.
• 11:04
  You essentially have a portable medical room, athletic training room that you
• 11:09
  set up in one of the hotel suites, and that's what any good sports medicine
• 11:13
  team does when they're traveling.
• 11:14
  And that could be national, domestic or international as well.
• 11:17
  And obviously language barrier is a huge thing.
• 11:21
  If you're traveling to an English speaking country, or even a Spanish
• 11:24
  speaking country, I think most of us are, pretty good at that.
• 11:27
  And, obviously a lot of soccer players can speak a little bit of Spanish as well.
• 11:31
  but Turkish is a language that I definitely do not know.
• 11:34
  So you had to make sure you had some translating devices on your phone so
• 11:39
  that you could communicate if those individuals didn't speak English.
• 11:43
  Melanie Cole (Host): Yeah.
• 11:43
  That's so interesting.
• 11:45
  Now.
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  When we think of working internationally, how has that changed your perspective, Dr.
• 11:51
  Zremski and your general approach as a medical professional?
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  Do the medical teams, I'm so interested in this question, do they
• 12:00
  operate differently in each place?
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  Do you retain a consistent method?
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  How are you working with the people on the ground there that have been
• 12:09
  there, that are, inviting you, that are running the event or all of the events?
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  Because that's where the collaboration is really so cool because you're meeting
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  so many people from all over the world.
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  Dr Jason Zaremski: I agree.
• 12:23
  I think that's one of the coolest thing is our perspective and our knowledge
• 12:27
  base just grows quite honestly.
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  That's why I love going to conferences or covering sporting events,
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  particularly when I get the opportunity to do it internationally, because
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  I'm always gonna learn something that I just never thought of.
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  Number one.
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  Number two, there might be another approach that either we don't do in the
• 12:44
  states or we don't do at our institution, or, maybe there's a better way of doing
• 12:50
  it or maybe there's an alternative way of doing it that works just as well.
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  So you can only improve as as a healthcare provider, quite honestly,
• 12:56
  as a doctor and athletic trainer or physical therapist, et cetera.
• 12:59
  But on the flip side is when you're traveling with a team, your team
• 13:03
  sets things up a certain way, and typically it goes through the head of
• 13:06
  athletic training or physical therapy or depending who's in charge of high
• 13:10
  performance or the medical team.
• 13:13
  So I'm there to assist.
• 13:15
  in our case it'd be a Celeste.
• 13:17
  I'm there to assist Celeste in any way possible, but also know my role.
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  So for example, before each match or before each competition or practice.
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  We need to make sure that we communicate with the other teams,
• 13:31
  medical personnel, introduce ourselves.
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  We also, particularly for matches, we need to communicate with the ambulance
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  that should be there on site, as well as make sure we meet with EMS.
• 13:42
  And if there is a, you know, with soccer, with fifa, if FIFA or ufa, which is the
• 13:47
  European Union Football Association.
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  If they have any physicians or physios, which is what in Europe, they would call
• 13:54
  athletic trainer or physical therapists on the ground and introduce ourselves.
• 13:59
  And we also go over some of the policies.
• 14:01
  So for example, In the United States, we have certain policies regarding lightning.
• 14:06
  Well, when we were, in this tournament, through ufa, there was
• 14:09
  not a lightning policy in Turkey.
• 14:12
  So we had to explain them, well, our policy is this.
• 14:15
  would the other team agree to that?
• 14:17
  If there was lightning spotted within eight miles or 10 miles,
• 14:20
  or we to do in kilometers abroad?
• 14:23
  And we'd have to agree that before the match for safety purposes.
• 14:26
  And the reason is.
• 14:28
  especially being at UF Health, Florida's one of the capital of lightning in
• 14:31
  the world short of being in Australia.
• 14:34
  So a lot of folks in Denmark don't worry about Lightning or the UK or
• 14:39
  even Spain, but in the United States, particularly in the Southeast, we
• 14:43
  absolutely worry about lightning.
• 14:44
  'cause as we know, especially with American football games every August,
• 14:47
  September, there's always lightning.
• 14:50
  So, It is something that adds a unique perspective that the team from Denmark
• 14:53
  just didn't think about that 'cause they don't have to deal with it.
• 14:56
  Whereas we definitely have to deal with it.
• 14:59
  That's something we prepare for.
• 15:01
  Melanie Cole (Host): Wow, that's so cool.
• 15:03
  So a lot to think about.
• 15:05
  And as we get ready to wrap up, Dr.
• 15:07
  Zremski, I have a few sort of ending questions here, but.
• 15:12
  You're a baseball player.
• 15:14
  Why youth soccer?
• 15:16
  Why'd you go into youth soccer?
• 15:18
  What type of difference do you wanna make while working with these kind of teams?
• 15:23
  And I'd love for you to share any other stories that we haven't told
• 15:27
  here today that you really wanna let other providers know, because
• 15:32
  what you're doing is fascinating.
• 15:34
  It's exciting, it's fun, it's complex, it's all of these things rolled up
• 15:40
  into one and I think for providers that are looking to get into sports
• 15:44
  medicine, you're kind of the goal.
• 15:46
  You're kind of like, wow, isn't that so cool?
• 15:49
  He's traveling all around with these teams and working with these international
• 15:53
  doctors and sports medicine professionals.
• 15:56
  I mean, it's very exciting.
• 15:58
  You're kind of the goal.
• 15:59
  So tell us any stories and, while you're telling us that, why did you
• 16:03
  choose soccer when you wore baseball?
• 16:06
  Well,
• 16:06
  Dr Jason Zaremski: sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.
• 16:09
  I think, sometimes you take opportunity where it comes.
• 16:11
  So, I finished my sports fellowship back in 2012, got hired at UF Health.
• 16:17
  And one of the first things I wanted to do was find a way to get involved
• 16:21
  on the international level, and I was fortunate enough to be accepted to do a
• 16:25
  two week rotation at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee in 2015.
• 16:30
  And I thought it was just the coolest thing in the world.
• 16:33
  Not so much to be working with these high level athletes, but these athletes
• 16:36
  that are representing our country and I just think it may sound a little cheesy.
• 16:39
  I just think it's really cool to be able to help team USA in
• 16:44
  any capacity And that really.
• 16:46
  Got me thinking back in 2015, like, this would be really cool if
• 16:50
  I, can kind of help in some way.
• 16:52
  And I got a few more opportunities along the way.
• 16:55
  And also if I want to help with different sports teams, I.
• 17:00
  there has to be an opportunity there.
• 17:01
  So even though I'd love to help with USA baseball, USA softball,
• 17:04
  they're pretty well, stacked with their medical providers.
• 17:07
  Well, USA soccer, the U 15, U 17 levels, like I said, Dr.
• 17:12
  Rubes was recruiting some physicians and we know each other and she
• 17:15
  thought I would be a pretty good fit.
• 17:17
  I've got two young daughters, so she thought I'd be a pretty good fit for you.
• 17:20
  15 to 17 women.
• 17:22
  So I went on my first trip to Dubai, so that
• 17:25
  was kind of,
• 17:25
  being thrown into the fire.
• 17:27
  That was my very first trip in 2022, coming off of COVID, still doing
• 17:31
  lots of COVID testing, going to an international area definitely
• 17:34
  a unique part of the world.
• 17:36
  and I loved it.
• 17:37
  And quite honestly, I.
• 17:39
  For me, one of the coolest things is yes, travel is fun, especially internationally,
• 17:46
  but I think being able to help just a little bit behind the scenes, our team
• 17:50
  USA athletes, whether it's soccer, whether it's for Olympic and Paralympics,
• 17:55
  or whether it's for any sport.
• 17:56
  I just think it's really kind of cool and humbling.
• 17:59
  It's a nice way to give back.
• 18:00
  It's also an opportunity to grow yourself professionally.
• 18:04
  Personally, develop skills that maybe you won't have the opportunity to do if
• 18:08
  you stay in the same area all the time.
• 18:10
  And then we have the opportunity to bring that back here.
• 18:12
  And, it's not just me, you know, I know you, said some very nice things,
• 18:15
  but just at UF Health alone, Dr.
• 18:17
  Katie Edenfield, who's in, the family Medicine Department, student health, she's
• 18:21
  the team doc for USA swimming diving.
• 18:24
  Dr.
• 18:24
  Ashley Zapp, who's in, my department.
• 18:26
  She is also one of the team docs for U 1517 Women's Soccer and certainly
• 18:31
  our physicians, in family medicine orthopedics that take care of the, Gators.
• 18:35
  Those are all very high level athletes and teams, and it's a really cool thing
• 18:41
  to be able to take care of athletes.
• 18:43
  There are challenges that come along with it too.
• 18:45
  A lot of it's behind the scenes, but for me, taking care of.
• 18:49
  Our nation's athletes, who have a chance to represent our country on
• 18:53
  the world stage is, again, I keep saying the same thing over again.
• 18:57
  It's just a really cool, humbling thing that I don't take for granted and hope
• 19:00
  I get the opportunity to keep doing it.
• 19:03
  Melanie Cole (Host): It beautifully said.
• 19:04
  What an excellent discussion we just had.
• 19:07
  So exciting.
• 19:09
  Thank you for sharing with us everything that you're doing that's so
• 19:12
  exciting with the international teams.
• 19:15
  Really so interesting.
• 19:16
  And to learn more about this and other healthcare topics at UF
• 19:20
  Health Chance Hospital, please visit innovation dot uf health.org.
• 19:24
  And to listen to more podcasts from our experts, you can visit UF health.org/med
• 19:29
  matters.
• 19:30
  That concludes today's episode of UF Health Med EdCast with
• 19:34
  UF Health Shan Hospital.
• 19:36
  I'm Melanie Cole.
• 19:37
  Thanks so much for joining us today.