VAIL, Colo, Aug. 28, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Matthew Provencher has reached great levels of success in his orthopaedic surgery career at The Steadman Clinic since 2016, and previously at Massachusetts General Hospital and during his longstanding and distinguished career in the United States Navy.
Dr. Provencher acknowledges his individual achievements in the field of medicine, but is equally – if not more – proud of the accomplishments and breakthroughs enjoyed by the young surgeons he has mentored over the years.
“It’s the satisfaction that we receive as teachers to give back at this and allow our students to achieve their goals at the highest level,” said Dr. Provencher. “It’s really a great honor for the entire team, but especially for the fellows.”
As the Co-Director of the Steadman Philippon Research Institute (SPRI) Sports Medicine Fellowship Program, Dr. Provencher has embraced the role of mentor and has worked hand-in-hand with his bright, young mentees. That teamwork was recognized on a national level this summer as two of those former fellows earned major awards from the American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) and the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM).
Dr. Andrew Bernhardson, a Steadman fellow in the class of 2018-19, was honored by the American Journal of Sports Medicine with the 2019 Hughston Award. This honor is presented to the most outstanding paper that appeared in AJSM in 2019. Dr. Bernhardson’s paper was titled, “A Prospective Analysis of Patients with Anterior Versus Posterior Shoulder Instability: A Matched Cohort Examination and Surgical Outcome Analysis of 200 Patients.” The article was chosen by the editorial directors at AJSM as the best of the year and the selection process did not involve any self-nominations, submissions or endorsements.
Dr. Justin Arner, who just completed his fellowship as a member of Steadman’s 2019-20 class, received one of two major science awards presented by AOSSM each year. A Best Research Fellow award is presented in both the basic and clinical science fields. Dr. Arner—under the tutelage of Dr. Provencher and Dr. Giovanni Di Giacomo, a top shoulder specialist in Rome, Italy who has collaborated with Dr. Provencher on numerous studies—was honored for his work in clinical science.
“I have known Dr. Bernhardson since his time in medical school in San Diego,” said Dr. Provencher. “We have followed our patients in the military with shoulder instability for a long time. We were able to define several different types of shoulder instability and do a comparative analysis and made some really interesting findings.
“For the AJSM to recognize you with an award is a great honor,” continued Dr. Provencher. “We are all very proud to have worked with Dr. Bernhardson on this successful paper and look forward to implementing what was learned in this study to the benefit of our patients.”
“Dr. Arner’s award recognized all of the research he did as a fellow during his year here at The Steadman Clinic,” said Dr. Provencher. “He focused on reviewing patients who had shoulder dislocations treated with stabilization procedures and how they did long term. He followed up on patients of mine and Dr. Di Giacomo, a respected colleague of mine from Rome.”
“We really wanted to extend this study over a longer period of time then what has previously been done,” said Dr. Arner. “We looked at results and the progression of recovery from patients five years after Latarjet surgery, with hopes of determining risk factors of future shoulder instability.”
Arner certainly does not take this achievement lightly.
“It is a huge and humbling honor to be awarded the AOSSM Clinical Fellow Award,” said Dr. Arner. “To be a part of this study led by the incredible surgeons and researchers Dr. Provencher and Dr. Di Giacomo is really special.”
“I am humbled to be a part of that group,” continued Dr. Arner. “Looking at the past winners, it is really an impressive group of surgeons.”
The relationship that Dr. Provencher has with Dr. Bernhardson and Dr. Arner shows the many ties that The Steadman Clinic has in the field of sports medicine.
“What is unique is that prior to being a fellow here in 2018-19, Dr. Bernhardson was a medical student while I was serving in the Navy in San Diego,” said Dr. Provencher. “He was a resident under me during his active duty. Our paths continue to cross. The ‘mentee-mentor’ model continues to flourish.”
Dr. Arner had previously done research with Dr. Provencher before his fellowship experience this past year. He also was a resident at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) where many of The Steadman Clinic’s and SPRI’s leaders have strong ties.
“I had a shoulder injury in high school and the person that performed my surgery — Dr. James Bradley in Pittsburgh — really is the reason why I decided to pursue this career,” said Arner. “I spent a lot of time shadowing him. I eventually landed as a resident at the University of Pittsburgh where Dr. Philippon had previously worked. Dr. Bradley and Dr. Provencher were colleagues in the NFL (Bradley as team physician with the Steelers and Provencher with the Patriots) and collaborated on a lot of research together. Luckily, I was able to be involved in a few of those. I believe there were a lot of Pitt ties that played a role in allowing me to have the incredible opportunity to be a fellow at The Steadman Clinic and SPRI.”
Both Dr. Arner and Dr. Provencher feel honored to be a part of The Steadman Clinic’s fellowship program.
Dr. Arner said, “One thing that sets Steadman apart, besides its outstanding research, is what Dr. Philippon calls the crown jewel of their practice in Vail, the fellowship program. The surgeons treat you like colleagues. They are constantly teaching and are genuinely interested in our growth as surgeons and people. We have abundant opportunity to work with some of the finest orthopaedic surgeons in the world who have personally invented many of the techniques and devices we use today.”
“Everyone knows about the fellowship program at The Steadman Clinic,” said Dr. Provencher. “It’s renowned and is always listed as one of the top and most sought-after programs in the country. I consider myself very fortunate to be here and be one of the doctors helping run such a prestigious program.”