Dr. David R. Schmidt Receives Academy's Sports Medicine Award
pictured from left to right are Academy Board of Visitors member Susan Blackwood and Dr. David R. Schmidt
Dr. David R. Schmidt of San Antonio has been honored with the United States Sports Academy’s Dr. Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award. Academy Board of Visitor member Susan Blackwood presented the award to Dr. Schmidt on 5 May during halftime of the San Antonio Spurs playoff game with the Denver Nuggets.
In December, Dr. Schmidt and his partners opened the Texas Center for Athletes, a 133,000-square-foot, four-story building that houses a community practice featuring orthopaedics, hand surgery, facial trauma, neurotology, ophthalmology, cardiology, and internal medicine. It also contains research facilities, diagnostics and a surgery center, as well as nutrition, rehab and psychology services. All services fall under the direction of 20 University of Texas Health Science Center faculty members.
Since 1993, David R. Schmidt, M.D., has been the team physician as well as a pivotal player in the success of not only the San Antonio Spurs but of countless other athletes. Year round, Dr. Schmidt and his colleagues at Sports Medicine Associates of San Antonio attend to injured athletes at high school football games throughout South Texas, at college football games at Trinity University, at AHL Rampage hockey, WNBA Silver Stars women’s basketball and AA Missions baseball games.
Every Saturday morning during the academic year, high school athletes travel vast distances to see Dr. Schmidt and his colleagues. "I’m from a small town, so I know that resources are limited," Dr. Schmidt said. "I feel that providing care to student athletes is a way to give back to communities in need. Athletes are seen at our sports clinic regardless of their ability to pay.”
But Dr. Schmidt’s work doesn’t stop there. For the past 20 years, he has been a clinical assistant professor at his alma mater. In addition, he was instrumental in initiating "Sports Medicine Perspectives," an elective program for medical students that introduces them to what sports medicine is all about.
In 2002, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio honored Dr. Schmidt with the Distinguished Alumnus award.
Dr. Schmidt serves on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee for the San Antonio Sports Foundation. In the early 90s, Schmidt served as a staff physician at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and he was the staff physician for the U.S. Tennis team at the 1996 Olympic Games and served as a staff physician at both the 1994 Olympic Festival and the 1995 World University Games in Japan.
Dr. Schmidt serves on numerous committees and medical societies, including the U.S. Olympic Sports Medicine Society, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.
The Dr. Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award, named in honor of the former Olympic athlete, international sports medicine scholar and Director of the University of Kentucky Rehabilitation Center, is given annually to an individual for his/her contributions to the growth and development of sport medicine through practice and/or scholarly activity. The individual should exhibit a mastery of some aspect of sports medicine through practice or research, should be well known in the sports medicine field and should have an abiding belief in and practice of ethical behavior in pursuit of knowledge.
Academy Award recipients are presented with the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medal and Academy Rosette. The Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar medallion was designed by the Academy's Sport Artist of the Year 1990, Blair Buswell. Award recipients are also presented with the Academy Rosette, modeled after the Legion of Honour, which was instituted by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802. A rosette is a symbol of recognition and affiliation.
The Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award has been presented since 1994 as part of the Academy’s Awards of Sport Medallion Series, which pays “Tribute to the Artist and the Athlete.” Past recipients include famous four-minute-mile runner Roger Bannister, Dr. Jacques Rogge and five-time Olympic speed skating gold medalist Eric Heiden. For complete results visit http://www.asama.org/awards.
