Carl Wierks, MD, (third from left) orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist with The Bone & Joint Center, knows a thing or two about winter sports safety. As team physician for the U.S. Olympic Ski and Snowboard Team, he traveled to Austria in 2011 for the snowboarding World Cup, and in January 2012 he will work again with the snowboarding team at the Switzerland competition.

“I’m there on the hill with the athletes in case they sustain an injury,” says Dr. Wierks, an avid skier and snowboarder himself. “As team physician, my goal is to provide them with the best medical care so they can return to peak performance.”

Dr. Wierks also works to keep local athletes injury-free. Recently, he and other Lakeshore-area physicians and leaders in sports medicine teamed up to form the Physicians Advisory Group for Sports Medicine, with the goal to promote safe sports participation. With new pre-season cognition testing for school athletes (to prevent concussion) and treatment guidelines for serious injuries, the group is already fulfilling its mission.