Humanitarian outreach

A number of AMSSM members travel to provide international medical humanitarian work. The increasing interest of our members encouraged the Foundation to establish a volunteer service project preceding our Annual Meeting. All of the Service Projects emphasise creating supportive environments where youth can exercise and learn about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

The first Service Project was held in 2014 in collaboration with Gentilly Charter School in New Orleans, one of 32 schools located in the Louisiana Recovery School District. Approximately 50 AMSSM members, as well as their friends and family, restored portions of the school that was rased by Hurricane Katrina. AMSSM members, including Past Presidents, Board members, fellows, students and young members, worked together to paint the school, assemble physical education games and structures. Our work was completed during a school day and the excitement of the school students and teachers watching us work was very rewarding. 

The following year, in Hollywood, Florida, the Service Project was held at Carver Ranches Club, a Boys and Girls Club location in Broward County. More than 50 AMSSM members completed a variety of projects, including blacktopping a basketball court, constructing wooden benches and trash enclosures, painting a mural and restoring a butterfly garden. Once again, being able to support the club’s outdoor physical activity space allowed the AMSSM the opportunity to give back to the local community.

In 2016, the Service Project took place in Dallas, where the Foundation partnered with the United Way of Dallas and updated a school’s outdoor classroom and learning environment. This was in conjunction with the Foundation’s Impacting Lives: Why We Give Back Initiative and heralded the beginning of other projects supporting humanitarian outreach with the AMSSM. The service project in Dallas was particularly special also as Dr Halpern participated and was able to witness the impact that the AMSSM Service Project had on the community; his vision had come to fruition (figure 1).

• Download figure
• Open in new tab
• Download powerpoint

Figure 1

AMSSM Past Presidents Matt Gammons, Margot Putukian, Brian Halpern and Jon Divine with local community leaders during the 2016 Annual Meeting Service Project in Dallas, Texas.

2016 was also the first year that the AMSSM Foundation funded local service projects, with several small grants across the country, spearheaded by AMSSM members who submitted their projects for review and subsequently were awarded funding to complete them. Inspiring projects included: certifying coaches in First Aid/CPR/AED use, developing Emergency Response Plans, providing ‘healthy living’ backpacks to children at a federally qualified health centre clinic opening, a Preparticipation Physical Examination (PPE)1 screening for Spot Clinic at an inner city high school to provide preventive health services, constructing facilities for Urban Eagles youth sports programme and hosting a Miracle League event for disabled athletes, along with a field day and PPEs (figure 2).

• Download figure
• Open in new tab
• Download powerpoint

Figure 2

Local Humanitarian service project by AMSSM members, led by Past-President, Dr Cindy Chang, in Oakland, California. 

In 2017, the Service Project was held in San Diego, where more than 50 AMSSM members and friends volunteered, renovating and restoring portions of the Ron Roberts Family Branch of the Boys and Girls Club of Greater San Diego. This past year, the local outreach grant awards included a Tai Chi/Yoga Event with Adaptive Community, Musculoskeletal Screening Clinic at a Homeless Shelter, providing free shoes, physical exams and backpacks, CPR Training for Public School Coaches, and Teaching Injury Recognition and Management, Encouraging Positive Female Role Models for Sports Participation and Reinforce Nutrition Habits, as well as a PPE Clinic and Lecture to Increase Health Literacy.2 Once again, these grants were awarded to AMSSM members after a competitive submission process reviewed by the Foundation Board. As we prepare for our 2018 Meeting in Orlando, and the fifth Service Project, the local outreach grant awards continue to provide humanitarian outreach to the local community (figure 3).

• Download figure
• Open in new tab
• Download powerpoint

Figure 3

AMSSM Service Project volunteers during the 2017 Annual AMSSM Meeting in San Diego, California.

Moving beyond our shores: international outreach

We are also expanding to projects on a global level. Several AMSSM members have participated individually in global outreach with examples including volunteering in Haiti, Nepal and Kenya, as well as hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico and Houston, Texas. The first AMSSM Foundation Global Service Grant was awarded to a group of AMSSM members who travelled to Tanzania to implement an 8-week musculoskeletal ultrasound curriculum in an underserved region of sub-Saharan East Africa in February and March 2018. This project was a major step forward in local treatment of soft tissue and joint injuries and the aim is to create a sustainable sports ultrasound curriculum that serves as a model to other developing regions. It also underscores that AMSSM members are highly trained professionals who can contribute to humanitarian efforts in some unusual ways.

As the Immediate Past President of the AMSSM Foundation, I am extremely proud of the humanitarian outreach efforts that the AMSSM Foundation, under the initial guidance and vision of Dr Brian Halpern, has provided. We have done this in the communities that host our annual meeting, across the country where our AMSSM membership serves, and now also internationally. The Halpern Family Fund, started by Dr Halpern in 2016, supports ongoing humanitarian efforts, and there are tremendous opportunities that lie ahead in terms of continuing to ‘pay it forward’.