Maine’s Dexter Receives AMSSM’s Top Honor

AMSSM Charter Member William Dexter, MD, received the Founders’ Award today (April 16, 2016) at the 25th American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX. The award is bestowed when AMSSM leadership determines that a member exemplifies the best that a sports medicine physician can be and do.

Dr. Dexter serves as the Director of the Sports Medicine Program and of the Sports Medicine Fellowship program at Maine Medical Center (MMC). He also serves as Medical Director of the University of Southern Maine’s Athletic Training Education Program and Team Physician for USM’s Department of Athletics.

Dr. Dexter has served in a number of leadership roles within the field of sports medicine, serving as a strong advocate for the profession of sports medicine. He served as President of the American College of Sports Medicine in 2013-14 and on the ACSM Board of Trustees prior to that.

Within AMSSM, Dr. Dexter served as Program Chair for the 2003 Annual Meeting and helped launch faculty development and CAQ preparatory courses at the Annual Meeting. He also serves as Course Director for a series of Sports Ultrasound regional courses co-sponsored by AMSSM and MMC. 

“Personally, Dr. Dexter has served as my consultant, spiritual adviser, ski and snow guru, and friend,” said AMSSM Founder and Past President Robert Johnson, MD. “It was an honor and a privilege to present the 2016 Founders’ Award to him.”

During his time as Fellowship Director, Dr. Dexter has taught 32 fellows who are active AMSSM members as well as leaders in the field of sports medicine. A large portion of his time is spent seeing patients in the sports clinic at MMC, working with the sports medicine fellows and teaching residents about sports medicine. Dr. Dexter is also team physician for the AHL hockey team, the Portland Pirates.

Dr. Dexter was also instrumental in developing the joint research grant sponsored by AMSSM and ACSM that is now in its 4th year. He has published 31 papers, served as editor of two books and written 32 book chapters.

Dr. Dexter received his undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and medical degree from the Medical College of Virginia. He completed his family practice residency at Maine Medical Center, followed by a fellowship in primary care sports medicine at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. Dr. Dexter is board-certified in both family practice and sports medicine.

About the AMSSM Annual Meeting: The conference features lectures and research addressing the most challenging topics in sports medicine today including concussion and mental health, tendinopathy, running medicine with a focus on nutrition, mechanics, youth running and ultramarathon, thromboembolic events, diabetes, sideline management of abdominal and chest trauma, low back pain, emerging technologies, bone health including a stress fracture workshop and treatment/interpretation of bone edema on MRI and more.

About the AMSSM: AMSSM is a multi-disciplinary organization of 3,000 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