At Scottish Rite Hospital, our team of experts are dedicated to educating the medical community to bring better care to children. Recently, the hospital hosted the 3rd annual Sports Medicine for the Young Athlete (SMYA) educational conference in Frisco, Texas. This one-day course included pediatricians, athletic trainers and other health professionals from around the area to discuss latest research and treatment techniques focused on injury prevention for the adolescent athlete.

The meeting consisted of presentations from the hospital's team of sports medicine specialists, a panel of community experts to address sports-related questions from the audience and various hands-on breakout sessions. The attendees had the opportunity to work interactively with the specialists on how to examine for an ankle or elbow injury, screening for core weakness and pre-participation physical evaluation two-minute musculoskeletal screening. Presentations from the sports medicine team at Scottish Rite Hospital included:

• How Much Activity is Too Much? Guidelines for Parents
• Hip Issues in the Young Athlete: Reducing the Risk of Injury
• How Can We Prevent ACL Injuries?
• Obesity-Related Injuries
• Nutrition – Care of the Vegetarian/Vegan Athlete
• Unique Considerations for the Female Athlete (Physical, Social, Psychological)
• Helmets and Rule Changes: Can We Prevent Concussions?

Scottish Rite Hospital's sports medicine physician and program chair of SMYA, Shane M. Miller, M.D., is proud of the impact the team has within this medical community. "As an institution, it is an honor to have the opportunity to share our expertise with other medical professionals who are caring for young athletes," says Miller. "By providing a well-rounded educational course, we are able to improve awareness and treatment techniques to promote a safer environment for children and adolescents in sports."