Chiropractor Leads USOC Medical Team

With the excitement of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, we get to see world class players performing at the highest level of sport. What we don't see or often think about is the dedicated people behind the scenes who help keep the players on the field: the medical team. This is the team who treat injuries to help with faster recovery and a quicker return to the field, the team who gives preventative treatments to keep players healthy and at the top of their game performing optimally.

When we talk about athletes at the highest level of sport worldwide, we must also mention Olympic athletes. With the United States typically fielding the largest Olympic team, with athletes participating in almost all sports and events, it’s not surprising to learn they also have one of-if not the largest sports medicine teams in the world. What you might be surprised to learn is that the doctors who lead this staff are Chiropractors. Sometimes people ask if chiropractors are “real doctors”, or say they don't believe in the profession. Yes, they are real doctors whose education and training is just as intense and thorough as any medical profession. Chiropractic medicine is based on medical science and research, and biological laws/principles of human anatomy and physiology. Well trained chiropractors possess the highest levels of knowledge in human and athletic performance in the world. The United States Olympic Committee recognizes this, and when it comes to directing the care of the highly prized athletes on the largest stage they leave it to a chiropractor.

Dr. Bill Moreau, DC, DACBSP, CSCS, is a chiropractic physician and conservative evidence-based sports medicine clinician who is the Managing Director of Sports Medicine for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC).  He served as the medical director for team USA at the 2012 Summer Games in London and the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. He went on to become the first ever chiropractor to serve as Chief Medical Officer for the US Olympic teams in the 2016 Summer Games in Rio, and then again most recently in the 2018 Winter Games in Sochi, overseeing a medical team of 28 physicians – six of whom are doctors of chiropractic. Dr. Moreau continues to oversee all USOC sports-medicine clinics, Olympic and Paralympic Games planning and staffing, and the USOC National Medical Network. Alongside Dr. Moreau is Dr. Dustin Nabhan, DC, DACBSP, CSCS who is the USOC Director of Clinical Research and Multidisciplinary Care. His job is to incorporate the latest science and research among all medical and therapeutic disciplines to provide the best integrative care to help keep the athletes injury free, recovering faster when injuries do happen, and performing optimally. He does this while at the same time performing in house research and case studies using the USOC data across all athletes and clinical treatments.

At Align we have adopted this same philosophy of care by creating a multidisciplinary clinic providing integrative evidence-based treatment. In fact, one of our own team members, Dr. Kristina Maxwell, DPT, ATC, CKTP (USA trained Doctor of Physical Therapy and staff physiotherapist), has Olympic Medical Team experience having accompanied Team Cayman Islands to the 2016 Summer Games in Rio and most recently the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

Yours...

Ryan T. Parker, D.C.
Doctor of Chiropractic at Align