Pitt, UPMC Sports Medicine Experts Top National List

By Chuck Finder

After taking a survey of what Orthopedics This Week termed the field’s “thought leaders,” the medical publication released on Monday its list of the top 19 sports-medicine specialists in America – and nine of them carry ties to the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC.

Freddie Fu, M.D.

Three of them are the practicing and teaching leaders of Pitt and UPMC Sports Medicine: Freddie Fu, M.D., Christopher Harner, M.D., and James Bradley, M.D. The other six were trained as fellows, residents or, in one case, received his medical degree at Pitt. 

The only other multiple-specialist tandems on this “Orthopedics This Week” list were two from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and two from the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles, which included Pitt School of Medicine graduate, former Pitt resident and onetime UPMC Sports Medicine fellow Neal ElAttrache, M.D.

“Of the 19, nine were trained here – nine here at Pitt,” said Dr. Fu, noting that he along with Drs. Harner and Bradley also came through the Pitt/UPMC Sports Medicine pipeline. “They were residents and they were fellows. It’s quite an honor. It speaks volumes about our clinical work, experience and education.”

The nine, most of whom have made the US News & World Report Top Docs lists previously, are:

• Dr. Fu - David Silver professor and Orthopaedics Surgery chair, former president of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM), longtime Pitt team physician and internationally renown educator/lecturer.
• Dr. Harner – UPMC Sports Medicine and with Dr. Fu one of the founding physicians of the center; also head team physician for the NHL Pittsburgh Penguins and Pitt plus the current president of AOSSM.
• Dr. Bradley - clinical professor at Pitt in Orthopaedics Surgery and head team orthopedics physician of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers (former fellow).
• Dr. ElAttrache -  Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Foundation board chairman, MLB Los Angeles Dodgers team physician and consultant to the PGA Tour, among others (M.D. and resident).
• C. Benjamin Ma, M.D. -- University of California San Francisco chief of Sports Medicine and noted researcher (resident and fellow).
• Brian Cole, M.D. -- Rush University Medical Center professor, chair of surgery at Rush Oak Park Hospital, and NBA Chicago Bulls team physician and MLB Chicago White Sox co-team physician (fellow).
• Darren Johnson, M.D. -- University of Kentucky chair of Orthopedic Surgery and head orthopedic surgeon for Kentucky Wildcats athletics (fellow).
• Mark Miller, M.D. -- University of Virginia head of Sports Medicine, James Madison University team physician and respected educator (fellow).
• Marc Safran, M.D. -- Stanford University Associate Chief of Sports Medicine, former team physician for several universities, consultant to NBA Players Association, and noted researcher (fellow).