U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Bernhardson, an orthopedic surgeon assigned to the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, never expected the research he started with his team would result in an award and national accolades.
While in the busy process of reporting to Lovell FHCC in June, he got the news of his paper receiving the honorable Hughston Award from the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine for 2020. This huge achievement came as an unexpected honor to Bernhardson and his co-authors.
“I was quite shocked that our paper was selected considering the previous winners of the Hughston Award,” said the active duty Naval officer.
Bernhardson’s research paper titled A Prospective Analysis of Patients with Anterior Versus Posterior Shoulder Instability: A Matched Cohort Examination and Surgical Outcome Analysis of 200 Patients, was featured in an issue of the “American Journal of Sports Medicine.” The Hughston Award is given annually for the most outstanding paper appearing in the AJSM by that point in the year.
Berhardson describes Jack C. Hughston, the founder of AJSM and namesake for the award, as the “father of sports medicine.”
Bernhardson has had his own experiences with sports medicine, having plenty of hands-on opportunities during a fellowship working with the US Ski team. Providing medical care for active duty tactical athletes with high fitness demands also augmented his sports medicine knowledge. Shoulder instability was commonly treated amongst these patients due to their intense physical training.
Berhardson decided to research the differences between anterior and posterior shoulder instability with the goal of providing providers and patients a new resource. Although the difference between the injuries are known to be separate entities, the paper provides a clear understanding of the symptoms side-by-side, which can lead to the most effective treatment. There were vast differences found in the study, just one of them being the primary symptom of patients with anterior instability was a general lack of shoulder stability, whereas patients with posterior instability reported mostly symptoms of pain.
“This is so we can better counsel our patients as well as for people in the community to understand,” Bernhardson said.
The outcomes of patients with anterior shoulder instability in the study were better than those with posterior instability in all ways, which provides more insight to providers when treating these patients.
Bernhardson credits his wife, Danielle, and his team of co-authors of many different medical backgrounds for making this achievement possible. The group of doctors and researchers responsible for the paper’s success includes Colin P. Murphy, BA, Zachary S. Aman, BA, Robert F. LaPrade, MD, PhD, and U.S. Navy Reserve Capt. Matthew T. Provencher, MD, MC.
Although he has only been a provider at Lovell FHCC for a short period of time, Bernhardson has many goals that align well with Lovell FHCC’s mission. Since Lovell FHCC was established in 2010 as the nation’s first fully integrated federal health care center in support of both the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments, one of the its main missions is to medically prepare Navy recruits for military service, including dental preparedness. Bernhardson hopes to implement an injury prevention program for the Navy recruits at Naval Station Great Lakes Recruit Training Command. This would include providing a Vitamin D supplement since the deficiency is so common. It can cause muscle weakness and other health issues that can lead to injuries. Bernardson’s role is to provide care, not only for recruits in training, but for all types of patients who seek care in his department.
“This reflects very highly on LCDR Bernhardson’s hard work and dedication to research, Navy Medicine, as well as his status as a national expert in sports medicine,” stated Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Griffin, department head of Orthopedic Surgery at FHCC and Bernhardson’s supervisor. “Needless to say, we are very proud to have him on board at FHCC.”
Date Taken: | 09.01.2020 |
Date Posted: | 09.01.2020 13:01 |
Story ID: | 377225 |
Location: | NORTH CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, US |
Web Views: | 866 |
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