Michigan Sports Medicine Physician Receives AMSSM’s Top Honor

Michigan Sports Medicine Physician Receives AMSSM’s Top Honor

Hollywood, Fla. – April 15, 2015 – Robert B. Kiningham, MD, was awarded the Founders’ Award today at the 24th American Medical Society for Sports Medicine Annual Meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The award is bestowed when AMSSM leadership determines that a member exemplifies the best that a sports medicine physician can be and do.

While serving as clinical associate professor at the University of Michigan and team physician for Eastern Michigan University, Dr. Kiningham has played an instrumental role in the development and growth of the AMSSM Research Workshop that has evolved into a multi-tiered research and leadership training program for primary care sports medicine fellows.

“While he embraces all aspects of sports medicine and patient care, Bob's real passion is for teaching,” said David Webner, MD, a member of the AMSSM Foundation Board of Directors. “Bob has touched the hearts and minds of over 1000 current AMSSM members. As the most senior and de-facto head of the Research Fellows Workshop, Dr. Kiningham has been imbuing fellows with the desire to critically exam all we do in sports medicine, ever questioning and challenging the best ways we can treat our athletes.”

Dr. Kiningham has helped grow the Fellows Research Workshop from a small handful of young physicians in Pittsburgh in the 1990s, to a delegation of 100 sports medicine physicians annually in places as varied as Birmingham, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Carlsbad, Minneapolis, Denver, and this upcoming July in Maryland.

“Bob is also the consummate family physician, seeing an athlete with a knee injury or a sports concussion in one room, and doing a vasectomy or a prenatal visit in another,” said Webner. "The word throwback is often bandied about in sports as those who espouse the earnest and honest ways of competing in days gone by. Dr. Kiningham is a sports medicine throwback who undoubtedly has made his mark, by paying it forward."

Dr. Kiningham is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in Ohio and completed his family practice residency at the University of Michigan Medical School. He also received a master's degree in exercise physiology from the University of California-Davis. He was the first primary care sports medicine fellowship graduate at the U-M Medical School Department of Family Medicine, and has a Certificate of Added Qualification in Sports Medicine. His special research interests include sports medicine, menstrual dysfunction, and non-surgical orthopaedic foot problems. He performs vasectomies, endometrial biopsy, toenail avulsions, simple dermatology procedures, joint aspirations and joint injections.

About the Annual Meeting: The 2015 AMSSM Annual Meeting, with more than 1,500 sports medicine physicians attending from throughout the United States and around the world, explores current decisions, controversies and best practices related to return-to-play decision making that defines the clinical practice of sports medicine. It features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including issues surrounding FIFA & soccer injuries, ACL injury prevention, cardiovascular disease, degenerative joint disease, the power of physical activity in maintaining a healthy population, baseball injuries, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, sports ultrasound, pediatric sports medicine and groin pain/athletic pubalgia.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of 2,700+ sports medicine physicians dedicated to education, research, advocacy and the care of athletes of all ages. The majority of AMSSM members are primary care physicians with fellowship training and added qualification in sports medicine who then combine their practice of sports medicine with their primary specialty. AMSSM includes members who specialize solely in non-surgical sports medicine and serve as team physicians at the youth level, NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, MLS and NHL, as well as with Olympic teams. By nature of their training and experience, sports medicine physicians are ideally suited to provide comprehensive medical care for athletes, sports teams or active individuals who are simply looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle. www.amssm.org