Bruce S. Miller M.D., M.S. guests on “5 questions with CJSM”

November 25, 2013 by

800px-Michigan_Stadium,_17_September_2012

“The Big House”: the stadium
where Michigan plays, site of
this week’s game with OSU

Thanksgiving Day is near and, on a personal note, my twin children celebrate their tenth birthday this week. But here in Columbus, all celebrations fade in the face of “Hate Week.”

No it’s not something out of Orwell’s 1984.  It’s what my fellow citizens of this fair city call this week when their beloved Ohio State Buckeyes (OSU) play their northern rivals, the Michigan Wolverines (U of M), in their annual college football game.  It’s one of the oldest rivalries in the sport.

Having grown up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with family members and multiple friends all attending the University of Michigan, I’m something of a Judas here in Columbus.  My paycheck comes from OSU and I even received my MPH from the school, but in the words of the Beatles, those things “Can’t Buy Me Love.” My sporting allegiances will stay maize and blue regardless of the fact that I will surrounded by a sea of scarlet and grey (and hatred) this week.

I thought it high time then to track down one of my dearest friends and have him answer ‘5 questions with CJSM.’  I need help from a fellow supporter of the Wolverines.

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Dr. Bruce Miller with son Cameron at
youth hockey game.
Sporting the Maize and Blue!

Dr. Bruce Miller is an Associate Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics at the University of Michigan, and is a Team Physician for the U of M football team as well as USA Rugby. He publishes regularly, with a particular focus on rotator cuff pathology.  His accomplishments are legion (including being an All-American in rugby when he was in college), but I know him best as the man with whom I studied helminths back in medical school.  From worms to one of the premier positions in sports medicine, my how far he has come.

Here is what he had to say in answer to the questions we posed him:

_________________________

1) CJSM:  You are a busy orthopaedic surgeon and team physician, how did you get involved in clinical research?

At the beginning of my academic career, I was doing more basic science research, primarily focusing on articular cartilage and some biomechanical interests. However, I soon learned that the world of basic science can be quite “competitive”, especially in terms of securing funding. I recognized that as a busy clinician, I was at a competitive disadvantage in competing with full-time scientists. In addition, I enjoyed following my patients functional outcomes after surgery. I eventually came to the realization that I could be more successful in pursuing clinical research in the sense that my established clinical practice could serve as my “laboratory” . . . I simply needed to acquire some new research skills. I was fortunate that the University of Michigan School of Public Health offered a Masters program for clinicians, which allowed me to gain a new skill set while allowing me to continue with my clinical practice. I attended classes four days every month for roughly 18 months, and ultimately earned a Masters Degree in Clinical Research Design and Statistical Analysis. Through this program I gained a valuable skill set that allowed me to launch a successful clinical research program. Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest Tagged with ,

Aussie Rules Football

November 20, 2013 by

I was planning on writing this post as soon as the November CJSM was published.  One of this journal’s valued, affiliated societies is the Australasian College of Sports Physicians.  I began the month looking at New Zealand’s beloved rugby, I thought it time to look at the different football code played in Australia.

Little did I know I would be communicating so much with Australian readers before I even wrote directly about one of their beloved sports.   The posts I wrote on November 12, 14 and 16, all dealing with a recent Canadian statement on bicycle helmet policy in their country, stirred up a huge response from antipodean friends where mandatory helmet legislation (MHL) has been around since the early 90’s.  If you visit this blog and have yet to experience the ‘thunder from down under’ about MHL, please check those posts and the associated comments.  There is still time to take the polls exploring the matter of MHL, and if you want to comment on MHL, write a letter to the editor, as the journal articles’ authors would want to hear from you.

Aussie_rules_kicking

Australian Rules Football

There is another gem in the November issue besides the bicycle helmet entries, and this too has to do with injury prevention, but in the sport of Australian Rules Football: “Priorities for Investment in Injury Prevention in Community Australian Football,” by Dr. Caroline Finch et al.  I have recently written a blog post about the different football codes from around the world and so I was primed to read about a type of football about which I know so little.  In fact, most of what I do know about Aussie Rules comes from my familiarity with Brad Wing, the Melburnian who rocked the American football world with his punting prowess when playing for Louisiana State  a couple of seasons ago.

Dr. Finch herself I can’t, in truth, say I know; but because of the magic of social media, I have learned a lot by following her on Twitter.  A Professor from the University of Ballarat in Australia, Dr. Finch is well published in the world of injury prevention.  And so it was with genuine interest in her and in Aussie rules football (AF) that I turned my attention to this study.

Dr. Finch’s team performed a systematic search to identify peer-reviewed, original research articles describing injuries in community AF published before 2012.  The team identified 17 such articles, and then further narrowed their scope to a remaining 6 which contained details on the nature of injury and the body region injured.  The team further incorporated unpublished community AF data from the “Preventing Australian Football Injuries through eXercise (PAFIX) study.” Read more of this post

Filed under General Interest

The Thunder From (mostly) Down Under

November 16, 2013 by 20 Comments

I’ve been an Associate Editor for CJSM for just over six months now, and have written over 50 posts for this blog.  I have never received so much traffic and commentary in this brief tenure as I have on my most recent two posts:  A Discussion on Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Legislation and a poll about the same.  Both relate to two very interesting pieces in the most recent, November issue of CJSM that I encourage you to read:  “Bicycle Helmets:  Don’t Say Something by not Saying Something” and the Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine Position Statement on Mandatory Bicycle Helmet Legislation.

I have received an overwhelming and gratifying response to the post and the poll, most especially from Down Under: Australia and New Zealand have in place mandatory bicycle helmet legislation (MHL), and there are thunderous voices coming from there dissenting with their respective nation’s MHL.  I have especially appreciated the voices that avoid references to Hitler and religious zealotry and instead share with me evidence from the medical literature on the issue. I encourage you to go the comments section on both posts to see this robust discussion.  I have passed the information on to the papers’ authors as well.

If you’re reading this and you disagree with MHL initiatives, I’d ask you to take one more poll.  I have been curious to understand what single issue folks find most drives their opposition to MHL.  So, if you could take a moment to take the poll below I’d appreciate it.  I’ll share the results from this poll and the previous one  in an upcoming post.

Keep the comments coming (as they say in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Be nice and play fair! All comments are moderated). And, as ever, have a great weekend.

Filed under CJSM Polls, General Interest Tagged with

Mandatory Bicycle Helmets for Cyclists: Tell us What You Think

November 14, 2013 by 70 Comments

I hope the CJSM and CJSM blog readers have had the chance now to take a look at this month’s CJSM to read the CASEM statement on mandatory bicycle helmet use and the accompanying editorial by Murray Maitland. We wrote a blog post about the subject earlier this week and have heard back from some of you on our twitter feed @cjsmonline.

I wanted to give more of the on-line a community to share their thoughts, and so I’ve set up a poll (below).  Please vote,  and I also want to encourage you to scroll to the bottom of this blog post where you can leave your comments to engage with us and others in an on-line discussion about this important, controversial sports medicine and public health issue.

Exercise your right to vote!  Make your voices heard!  As Dr. Maitland writes, “Don’t say something by not saying something.”  Vote and “Leave a Reply,” but please remember to be civil.  All comments are moderated.   Thanks for your engagement!

p.s. I’ve received so many comments on this and the previous post, especially from folks in Australia and New Zealand where MHL is in place, that I wanted to share a monograph from the Centre for Accident Research & Road Safety (CARRS).  It is a comprehensive review of so many of the aspects of this issue brought up by the people writing in:  CARRS’ Bicycle Helmet Research, Monograph 5.  Check it out.

Filed under General Interest, Polls

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