PlaySafe

PlaySafe is an outreach program of the UCSF Sports Medicine Center that provides sports medicine care for student-athletes in the high schools around the Bay Area.

The program was initiated by UCSF sports medicine experts after media coverage of serious injuries and the deaths of young athletes, including one at a San Francisco high school, that could have been prevented with appropriate medical care.

With PlaySafe, the public high schools have access to UCSF Sports Medicine Center experts, including physicians and certified athletic trainers. Doctors from the center perform pre-season physical exams and help monitor the athletes throughout the season. UCSF also sponsors the visits of athletic trainers.

These experts are qualified to determine when an athlete should play or be withheld from competition.

PlaySafe Services

Medical Screenings

• Pre-Participation Physical Exams
• PlaySafe Cardiac Physicals: An annual community service to detect cardiac risks in athletes. By combining sports pre-participation physical exams with cardiac EKG and ECHO tests, the program provides comprehensive, preventive screening to hundreds of Bay Area student athletes.
Watch a cardiac screening video to learn about one local high school athlete's experience.
• Wrestling Weight Management Program

Sports Medicine Care

• Development of Sports Medicine Training Rooms
• On-Site Sports Medicine Care
• Sports Event Coverage

Referral

• Priority access to UCSF Sports Medicine Clinic
• Access to UCSF Sports Medicine referral network
• PlaySafe Acute Injury Clinic

Education

• UCSF / PlaySafe Student Sports Medicine Internships
• Coach / Parent / Officials Injury Education
• Sports Medicine Conferences and Community Outreach

PlaySafe Team

UCSF Sports Medicine doctors who provide services include:

• Dr. Anthony Luke, director of UCSF Primary Care Sports Medicine and PlaySafe Program Director
• Dr. Christina Allen
• Dr. Brian Feeley
• Dr. Benjamin Ma, chief of Sports Medicine
• Dr. Carlin Senter

Athletic trainers from UCSF Sports Medicine who work with high school athletes include:

• Jason Miyamoto, PlaySafe Program Coordinator
• Americ Alvarado
• Tim Baldwin
• Gina Biviano
• Joe Caballero
• Elise Hammond
• Derek Hirai
• Duke Meek
• Kristen Monette

What is a Certified Athletic Trainer?

A Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) is a health care professional who specializes in preventing, recognizing, managing and rehabilitating injuries that result from physical activity.

Sports Medicine Service Provided by an ATC

• Determine the individual's readiness to participate.
• Promote safe and appropriate practice, competition and treatment facilities.
• Advise on the selection and maintenance of equipment.
• Develop and implement an emergency action plan.
• Establish protocols regarding environmental conditions.
• Develop injury and illness prevention strategies.
• Provide for on-site recognition, evaluation and immediate treatment of injury and illness, with appropriate referrals.
• Facilitate rehabilitation and reconditioning.
• Provide nutritional counseling and education.
• Participate in the development and implementation of a comprehensive athletic health care administrative system.

UCSF Student Sports Medicine Internship

The UCSF/PlaySafe Student Sports medicine Internship was established in 2009 by program coordinator Jason Miyamoto to promote aspiring students the opportunity to gain exposure and experience in the field of sports medicine. Job shadowing opportunities exist in the training room, UCSF sports medicine clinic, UCSF/PlaySafe game and event coverage.

The internship also includes opportunities for shadowing sports medicine professionals in the community, and coordinates sports medicine facility tours, which have included visits to UC Berkeley and the San Francisco 49ers facilities.

More Information

For more information about the PlaySafe program and Saturday morning clinics, contact the UCSF Sports Medicine Center:

UCSF Sports Medicine Center
1500 Owens St.
Suite 170
San Francisco, CA 94158
Phone: (415) 353-7566
Fax: (415) 885-3862

Request an appointment online with UCSF Sports Medicine.

Support PlaySafe

To make a donation to PlaySafe, please send a check payable to the University of California Regents to:

University of California San Francisco
Attn: PlaySafe Program
500 Parnassus Avenue, MU-320W
San Francisco, CA 94143-0728

Please make contributions payable to: UC Regents

Photo by Tom Seawell.