As more physicians train for the sidelines, one of the leaders carrying the ball for sports medicine education, research, advocacy, and excellence at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine (UNR Med) is Mark Stovak, ‘95M.D.

As the Acting Chair of the school’s Family and Community Medicine Department and the Sports Medicine Fellowship Assistant Director, Dr. Stovak is one of the educators responsible for writing the school’s playbook for the specialty. His career in the fastest-growing medical specialty in the country includes serving as Team Physician for the USA Paralympics in Beijing, Head Team Physician for Wichita State University and a slew of other directorship and committee positions.

Recently, Dr. Stovak completed his tenure as president of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), the largest membership organization in the country for the specialty, with more than 5,000 members. Over his career, Dr. Stovak has experienced key moments in the history of sports medicine and pursued essential priorities in his leadership roles to help more doctors make lifelong careers in the field.

“I enjoy doing things that are bigger than myself,” Dr. Stovak said. “That’s why I'm in education. I've taught about 400 family medicine residents and 40 sports medicine fellows, and then they care for more patients. It’s about the impact you can make on the world.”

Expanding the field

Simplifying the certification process for all five sports medicine specializations was one of the top priorities Dr. Stovak sought to address during his AMSSM tenure. As president, Dr. Stovak advocated for a yearly process rather than requiring practitioners to take an exam every 10 years. Instead of placing physicians in what Dr. Stovak called a “high stakes” scenario, a yearly process could mean more straightforward accreditation practices, knowledgeable physicians and better patient care.

Helping sports medicine doctors receive adequate compensation that considers their specialty was another of Dr. Stovak’s priorities. In some communities, physicians struggle to be recognized and compensated fairly as experts in sports medicine within their respective fields. Instead, they might only be categorized as family medicine or emergency room doctors. By working with organizations that collect relevant salary data, such as the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), Dr. Stovak hopes to ensure fairer pay.

“We’re going to make sure that sports medicine doctors have realistic benchmarks,” he said.

Additionally, Dr. Stovak prioritized collaborating with national athletic associations to create internal accountability systems that would ensure the application of best practices and raise the quality of care provided to athletes.

“We’re working with these different organizations to raise the standards of medical care,” he said.

Stepping up to the plate

Dr. Stovak highlighted several other accomplishments the organization achieved during his term, including:

• Advocating for Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PMR) physicians: Recognizing the importance of independent sideline coverage, the AMSSM supported its PMR members facing limitations in providing coverage at NBA games.
• Exploring a sports medicine journal: AMSSM formed an ongoing task force to assess establishing a new sports medicine journal as the scholarly publishing industry moves toward open-access models.
• Extensive educational resources: The society is dedicated to professional development and provides many learning opportunities, including podcasts, webinars, in-person courses and an annual meeting. Its YouTube channel is a wealth of information for fellows, residents, students and members alike.
• Facilitating medical licensing for team physicians: The society continues to advocate for reciprocal medical licenses in states that restrict team physicians from traveling with their teams—namely, Hawaii, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
• Funding research and humanitarian projects: The organization’s Collaborative Research Network received $500,000 in research grants, supporting advancements in sports medicine. Moreover, the school has funded five local humanitarian projects in the U.S. and another global initiative in Trinidad and Tobago.
• International collaboration and knowledge exchange: Demonstrating a commitment to global sports medicine, AMSSM sent exchange lecturers to countries such as Japan, South Africa, Norway and France. Additionally, traveling fellows have explored healthcare practices in New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Germany.
• Visionary strategic plan: AMSSM developed a forward-looking strategic plan spanning 2023-2030, a distinctive shift from the organization’s previous approach.

These kinds of big-picture, foundational initiatives are ongoing projects, according to Dr. Stovak. So, AMSSM uses a multi-year presidential structure in which a series of vice presidents serve as officers alongside the current president and immediate past president, ensuring that policy development can continue after each president's one-year tenure ends.

“AMSSM is getting big, but it’s still a very tight community and a very collegial organization,” he said. “We all try to support each other and not compete against each other. It’s like a medical family—we know we’re on the same team.”

Lessons learned

Dr. Stovak left his presidential appointment with ideas for the future of the field and sees opportunities for the advancement of AMSSM itself.

“We now have a diversity membership subcommittee that recruits and cultivates diverse members of our society as speakers, committee members and other leadership roles,” Dr. Stovak said.

Dr. Stovak believes that emphasizing diversity within AMSSM will reflect the necessity of the national importance of diversity in sports medicine.

“The vast majority of athletes aren’t white males,” Dr. Stovak said. “Studies show us that patients receive better care when there are more physicians with similar backgrounds and experiences to them.”

Regarding the future of sports medicine, Dr. Stovak had some advice for the next generation of practitioners—be ready to do the work, no matter where you can find it. For Dr. Stovak, sports medicine is about helping motivated patients keep playing the game they love.

“The professional athletes you watch on TV aren't the only ones who need sports medicine specialists to keep playing at a high level,” he said. “Weekend warriors, collegiate players, and high school athletes all count on us to help them stay healthy and in the game.”

Learn more about UNR Med’s Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, which offers resident physicians the opportunity to focus on preventing, diagnosing, and treating medical conditions specific to athletes and exercising individuals.