Get Back or Stay In the Game with Free Seminar Series

Spectrum Health Sports Medicine Experts Offer Tips to Keep Athletes Safe

Sports injuries affect athletes of all ages. To help avoid or minimize these incidents, Spectrum Health is hosting a series of free sports medicine seminars on concussions, hip injuries and common athletic injuries.

“An athlete’s goal is to return to the sport they love,” stated Matthew Axtman, DO, sports medicine physician, Spectrum Health Medical Group. “They would do anything to stay in the game. These sports medicine seminars are designed to provide important information about keeping athletes safe and healthy and are a great educational opportunity for athletes, parents and coaches.”

Seminars are held at the Calvin College Prince Conference Center, 1800 East Beltline Avenue, Grand Rapids, and also available through a live stream. Pre-registration is required. Register for any of the following seminars online at www.shmg.org/event or call 616.267.2626 and select option 4.

Concussions in Athletes: What you need to know—Matthew Axtman, DO and Michael Lawrence, PhD, ABPP-CN
Monday, August 3, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Whether you are involved in athletics or a parent of an athlete, concussion is an important topic of concern. Learn about evaluation, signs and symptoms, treatment and steps for recovery.

Athletic Hip Injuries—Olusanjo Adeoye, MD
Monday, August 17, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Hip pain doesn’t just affect the elderly. It often starts in young athletes as a result of injury or overuse. Discover how early identification and timely treatment can slow or even reverse the progression of many hip conditions.

Common Athletic Injuries—Jason Lazor, DO and Jennifer Trpkovski, DO
Monday, August 24, 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Learn about prevention of common athletic injuries as well as how to treat them.

“An injury to an athlete is another game to be won, but they don’t need to play alone. Education and prevention is key to taking control of your physical health and getting back in the game,” said Dr. Axtman.

Spectrum Health is a not-for-profit health system, based in West Michigan, offering a full continuum of care through the Spectrum Health Hospital Group, which is comprised of 12 hospitals, including Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital; 182 ambulatory and service sites; 1,300 physicians and advanced practice providers, including 1,100 members of the Spectrum Health Medical Group; and Priority Health, a health plan with more than 648,000 members. Spectrum Health is West Michigan’s largest employer, with 22,800 employees. The organization provided $294.6 million in community benefit during its 2014 fiscal year. Spectrum Health is the only health system in Michigan to be named one of the nation’s 15 Top Health Systems® by Truven Health Analytics for 2015. This is the fourth time the organization has received this recognition.