USC Sports Medicine and the Gamecocks:

A Winning Combination

Nick Prochak knew that playing football for the Gamecocks and pursuing his education at the University of South Carolina would have its challenges. The tight end just didn't realize that one of those challenges would be a life-threatening injury occurring off the football field.

Prochak remembers the January evening almost a year ago when a collision on his moped left him lying in the road, rapidly losing blood with his left leg broken in multiple places. By the time he was transported by ambulance to Palmetto Health Richland, USC team orthopaedic surgeons Dr. Christopher Mazoué and Dr. Jeffrey Guy were already there. Through a system of communications set up by USC Sports Medicine, the two physicians were immediately alerted about the accident. An hour after his arrival, Prochak underwent surgery on his leg.

Athletes like Prochak are provided with diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventive health care services through USC Sports Medicine. A partnership with the Department of Family Medicine and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, the comprehensive sports health team includes orthopaedic surgeons, primary care sports medicine physicians, and certified athletic trainers. Based at the USC Sports Medicine Center at Two Medical Park, the program serves individual athletes and teams at all levels of competition, including professional, collegiate, high school, and recreational athletes. Services to the University of South Carolina expanded in the summer of 2008, when USC Sports Medicine became the official health care provider for all of the school's 21 athletic teams and more than 450 athletes.

Dr. Jeffrey Guy (left) works with tight end Nick Prochak's knee in USC's training room after one of the team's practice sessions.

Dr. Guy, who serves as Medical Director for USC's intercollegiate athletics, sees the expansion as a culmination of efforts over the past seven years.  "One of the things I noticed [when I came in 2001] was the tremendous potential and wealth of health care providers at the university, yet there was not a lot of interaction between them." So began the process of building a collaborative network of support services throughout the university and the School of Medicine. Today the umbrella of health care for the athletes is a collaborative effort between the School of Medicine, the Department of Athletics, the College of Education's Athletic Training Program, the Arnold School of Public Health's Department of Exercise Science and Palmetto Health Richland.

USC’s athletic trainers serve as the first line of defense for keeping athletes healthy and managing injuries. Physicians at the Sports Medicine Center are only a phone call away. "Expeditious access to care is a critical part of sports medicine," said Dr. Guy. "It's not only important to have a really good communication system, but to use the system properly," he said, explaining that in case of injury, athletic trainers know how to reach one of the physicians at all times. Physicians also conduct pre-participation physicals, provide onsite coverage at designated practices and games, staff walk-in clinics, and do some travel with teams.

When a problem occurs, the sports medicine staff encourages athletes to keep their parents in the loop. Prochak's father and mother, Joe and Grace, appreciate not only the care their son has received, but also being actively included in the process. "Whenever I finish talking with Dr. Guy I understand exactly what is happening with Nick. He has done a very good job in helping Nick get over the bumps in the road," said Joe Prochak. For Prochak, those bumps have included shoulder surgery his first year at USC and re-cent surgery to repair torn cartilage in his knee. "It's comforting to know that when there is a problem I will not only be evaluated immediately on the field, but that I can get in with the doctor in a day or two," Prochak said.

As Prochak pushed himself to recover after each surgery, Dr. Guy and the athletic training staff monitored his rehabilitation process. "You have to assess the motivation level and personality of each patient. Nick is extremely motivated and I spent more time trying to slow him down," Dr. Guy said. He added, "The question is how to quickly, but safely, get someone back to their sport." Had Prochak needed the services of any other specialists, USC Sports Medicine would have been able to handle this as efficiently as a routine strain or sprain. "If we encounter something uncommon or better served outside our system, we have a list of subspecialists we refer to - from physicians here in town to others in Charlotte and Tennessee and Alabama - people whom we consider to be the top in their field," Dr. Guy said.

As far as Prochak is concerned, he's got the best in orthopaedic care right in Columbia. When he found out that Dr. Guy would be out of the country for ten days during football season, he was reassured by the reason: the orthopaedic surgeon had been handpicked to provide surgical sports medicine coverage at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. "We are tremendously lucky to have that kind of expertise available at USC," he said.

Reprinted from Connections newsletter, December 2008

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