Symposium History
The Annual Symposium on Sports Medicine began as a combined effort of The Department of Athletic Medicine at the University of Texas at Austin and the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. The first meeting, held in April of 1972, was avant-garde in the field of Sports Medicine education for physicians and athletic trainers. Unique in providing educational presentations for all members of the athletic medicine team - team physicians, athletic trainers, coaches, nurses, and physical therapists - this symposium continues to serve all groups today.
Early Visionaries
In a visionary move, Coach Darrel Royal, Head Football Coach of the University of Texas, presented his belief that athletes required special medical care (probably due to the influence of legendary UT trainer Frank Medina) and that the athletic medicine team should consist of physicians, athletic trainers, and health professionals in the fields of kinesiology and rehabilitation. As a result of his efforts, an athletic medicine team was established at the Athletic Department of the University of Texas at Austin. In 1969, Stan Burnham, Professor of Physical & Health Education at the University of Texas at Austin, was appointed Coordinator of the Athletic Medicine Program for intercollegiate athletics. His charge was to provide medical coverage for all athletic events.
Dr. Burnham had been very active in research in muscle development and strength training techniques for UT athletics. He was also instrumental in establishing medical coverage for fans attending events at UT's Memorial Stadium. Dr. Burnham had organized educational programs for athletic trainers, the first being held in San Antonio in November of 1967. The second program was held in 1969 at the Villa Capri Motel in Austin, Texas in conjunction with UT football spring training. Special guest Dr. Fred Allman, an early pioneer in orthopedic sports medicine was the keynote speaker at this meeting, connecting these educational activities to UT football spring training bound athletics and medical education in the state of Texas.
The UT team physician at that time was ex-UT athlete Dr. Joe Reneau. Orthopedic coverage was initially provided by Dr. Jack Buckley. In 1969, Burnham recruited Dr. Jerry Julian to become a team orthopaedic surgeon. Dr. Reneau, after years of service, stepped down and was replaced in 1972 by Dr. Paul C. Trickett, Director of the Student Health Center since 1969.
Health Education & Rehabilitation Consultant in Athletics, Charles Craven, MS, Department of Kinesiology, was pivotal in the early development of strength training and rehabilitation in the athletic department of the University of Texas. Craven was an instructor in the athletic training curriculum. He participated as an instructor at the 1st Annual Symposium and continued to participate for over 40 years.
Burnham, Julian, Trickett, and Craven directed athletic medicine and strength training at Texas. Their legacy is the excellent athletic medical facilities and programs available to UT athletes today.
UT head athletic trainer Frank Medina at the time was an employee of the Department of Athletics and directed a curriculum program in athletic training for UT students. The students in athletic training were housed in the Department of Physical and Health Education so they could obtain a teaching certificate in addition to a degree in athletic training. Medina, Burnham, Julian, Reneau, and Craven noted early the lack of post-graduate education programs for athletic trainers and as a result contacted Dr. Charles Rockwood, Chairman of the fledgling Division of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, to establish a program to disseminate education in athletic medicine to athletic trainers, physicians, school nurses, physical therapists, and coaches.
Coach Darrel Royal
Dr. Stan Burnham
Dr. Paul Trickett
Frank Medina
Charles Craven
“At the time of its inception, the Annual Symposium on Sports Medicine was the first program presented by a University education system directed at the entire sports medicine team.”
The First Symposium
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio opened its doors for its first medical school class in 1968. Dr. Charles Rockwood had been appointed Chairman of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1966. The orthopaedic surgery residency program accepted its first resident class in 1967. Dr. Rockwood had completed his orthopaedic surgery residency at the University of Oklahoma under the direction of Dr. Don O'Donaghue, who is recognized as the "father" of athletic medicine in orthopaedic surgery. Recognizing the need for orthopedic surgeons to have specialized training in athletic medicine, Dr. Rockwood arranged for his orthopedic residents to spend three months of their training with Dr. Jerry Julian, orthopedic team physician at the Department of Athletics at the University of Texas in Austin. Having a separate athletic medicine rotation during the orthopedic residency program was far ahead of its time but was to become the standard for orthopedic education. Dr. Rockwood also recognized the need for post-graduate education in athletic medicine for general physicians and athletic trainers.
As a result of their mutual interests, the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery in San Antonio and the Department of Athletics at the University of Texas at Austin combined their efforts and organized the 1st Annual Symposium on Sports Medicine in April 1972. Dr. Rockwood appointed his partner, Dr. David Green, Deputy Chairman of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center, as program director for the symposium, a position he held for five years. Under his expert leadership, the program grew to a nationally recognized symposium. At the time of its inception, the Annual Symposium on Sports Medicine was the first program presented by a University education system directed at the entire sports medicine team - physicians, athletic trainers, nurses, physical therapists, and coaches - and remains the same unique program sponsored by the two campuses of the University of Texas. From these meager beginnings, the program has grown each year to the point that over 500 physicians, athletic trainers, nurses, coaches, and physical therapists attend annually.
The first meeting, entitled simply, "Athletic Injuries: Prevention, Recognition, and Management," was held April 22-23, 1972, at the Joe C. Thompson Conference Center on the UT campus in Austin. The course was designed for "the team physician or any physician interested in the care of high school and college athletes and for athletic trainers and other members of the sports medicine team." The keynote speakers for this first symposium were Dr. Charles LeMaistre, Chancellor of The University of Texas, and Coach Darrel Royal, Director of Athletics and Head Football Coach at The University of Texas at Austin. The program included presentations on the "Pre-Season Physical Exam," "The Role of the Trainer," "Head and Neck Injuries," a panel on "Rehabilitation of the Injured Athlete," and a hands-on seminar on taping presented by legendary UT Trainer, Frank Medina, in the UT training room. The popularity of this initial symposium ensured its long-term success.
Dr. Charles Rockwood
Dr. David Green
Women’s Athletics
The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women was established in 1974. In 1974-75, Betty Thompson, Director of Recreational Sports, was appointed to the post of Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Dr. Donna Lopiano was hired in 1975 as the permanent director. Dr. Lopiano left Texas in 1992 to become Executive Director of The Women's Sports Foundation. Dr. Lopiano made certain that UT women's athletics became actively involved in Sports Medicine Education through participation in the Annual Symposium on Sports Medicine.
Early participants in this symposium from the Department of UT Women's Athletics included Dr. Lopiano, Becky Bludau (Marshall), the first full-time women's athletic trainer, the late Tina Bonci, who replaced Bludau in 1985, Rhonda Ryan, former UT Women's Assistant Swim Coach, and Jody Conradt, Athletic Director, and Head Women’s Basketball Coach. These women are responsible in large part for the initiation and continued development of Sports Medicine for women nationally.
Dr. Donna Lopiano
Image Source
Program Directors
Dr. David Green served as Program Director from 1972 to 1976.
Dr. Arvo Neidre became Program Director in 1977 and served until 1980.
Dr. Jesse DeLee has served as Program Director from 1980 to the present.
Dr. Katherine Bartush joined Dr. DeLee as a Co-Program Director in 2021.