Care of the Medically Disqualified Athlete

NCAA athletes face the realization of career-ending injuries, whether they are acute/catastrophic or cumulative. As team physicians and athletic trainers it is imperative that we have our athletes' long-term health as a priority in their care. Presenters of this podcast are Pierre Rouzier, MD, head team physician of the University of Massachusetts, Jennifer Brodeur, ATC, director of Sports Medicine and Jeff Smith, ATC, senior associate Athletic Director for Internal Operations at UMass.

This presentation discusses various medical categories considered career-ending and disqualifying; some of these are clear-cut, some may be more nebulous. Athletes facing 'retirement due to injury' are known to have significant psycho-social issues in their transition; we will discuss important institutional resources to help our athletes. We will present cases and outcomes from data collected at the University of Massachusetts. At the conclusion of the podcast, listeners will have learned various NCAA definitions, such as 'medical disqualification', 'medical hardship', 'medical red-shirt' and changes new to 2018. Program participants will know the consequences and implications of being 'medically disqualified' from an NCAA sport, and the impact on the athletes' financial assistance and what this means to their team's scholarship numbers. Listeners will be able to learn the process of medically disqualifying an athlete and how to provide the support and care they need to transition out of their sport.