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Dr. James Andrews among top presenters at Rothman Impact of Sports Conference

The NFL season kicked off this past weekend. College football season is just hitting its stride, and September may be Major League Baseball’s most important month. In other words, there’s not much free time right now for James Andrews, M.D., who works with teams in all three of these sports.

The NFL season kicked off this past weekend. College football season is just hitting its stride, and September may be Major League Baseball's most important month. In other words, there's not much free time right now for James Andrews, M.D., who works with teams in all three of these sports.

That's what makes it so remarkable that Dr. Andrews will arrive in Philadelphia tonight to present at tomorrow's 2nd annual Rothman Institute Impact of Sports conference. The program begins at 7 a.m. at Lincoln Financial Field.

For 40 years, Dr. James Andrews has been a household name in the world of sports. He's spent his career at the forefront of advances in surgical procedures that have gotten athletes back on the field and in many cases, saved their livelihoods. He shows no signs of slowing down either. Among others, today he works with the Washington Redskins of the NFL and MLB's Tampa Bay Rays.

"It's a busy week," Dr. Andrews laughed. "I don't think I would have made it to Philadelphia if it weren't for Dr. Ciccotti."

That would be Michael Ciccotti, M.D., Sports Doc panelist and director of sports medicine at the Rothman Institute. Dr. Ciccotti will give the welcome address at tomorrow's conference and will sit on a panel with Dr. Andrews entitled "Managing the Physical Impact of Sports - The Team Physician's Perspective." Peter DeLuca, M.D., another Sports Doc panelist and head team physician for the Flyers and Eagles, will join Drs. Ciccotti and Andrews.

"I'm proud to be invited to join the doctors from Rothman, plus the other experts who will be on hand," said Dr. Andrews.

Over his illustrious career, Dr. Andrews has trained over 350 sports medicine physicians—some of whom will be on hand tomorrow. Yet despite all his experience, Dr. Andrews says he'll be the one doing the learning tomorrow.

"Every time I attend a conference or give a presentation, I come away having learned more than I've taught," he said.

In the 1980s, Dr. Andrews was a leader of the popularization of arthroscopic techniques in surgery—minimally invasive procedures that shortened recovery time for injured athletes. Now he says he hopes to contribute to the study of biologics—specifically, stem-cell therapy in sports.

"I'm proud of what I've accomplished, but as my wife always tells me, 'If you're talking about what you did yesterday, you can't be doing much today!'" he said. "So I'll be there to learn."

Many attendees will be on hand to learn from Dr. Andrews, who is so respected in the world of sports that he may be the one man to transcend what is arguably sports' greatest rivalry between Auburn University and the University of Alabama. His practice, Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center is headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., and as such he has the opportunity to work extensively with athletes from both universities.

"Combined, I've been to the last five college football national championship games," recalled Dr. Andrews. "It can be a little tricky, but the focus is always on the athlete."

However there have been times in the office that Dr. Andrews has gone from treating a player from Alabama, directly into another room to see an Auburn player. "One time, I ran into the bathroom to change the championship ring I was wearing between appointments!" he remembered.

Dr. Andrews says one focus of his presentation will be injury prevention, particularly in youth sports. He believes he and his contemporaries have been 'remiss' in this area, and endeavors to change that, along with tomorrow's other panelists.

"These young doctors today—well, they're young compared to me!—they are so well-trained and educated," said Dr. Andrews. "We have so much knowledge at our hands, and we need to share it. We need to teach. I'm a big believer in leaving things better than you find them."

Read more Sports Doc for Sports Medicine and Fitness.