The UC San Diego men’s and women’s basketball teams made history this year after winning their Big West Championship games that led them to the NCAA Tournament. Both teams are pictured here, along with the UC San Diego Health physician care team. Photo credit: Derrick Tuskan, UC San Diego
The University of California San Diego Tritons recently made National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) history when they became the first men’s and women’s basketball team from the same school to qualify for the NCAA Division I tournament in their first year of eligibility.
That honor holds a unique significance to Amy Leu, DO, head team physician and sports medicine specialist at UC San Diego Health. She is a former UC San Diego basketball player herself and leads the physician care team for the Tritons.
“This has been a full circle opportunity to provide the care and support for the same team and organization that ignited my path to practice sports medicine, and I have been deeply honored and humbled to serve in this role for our incredible men’s and women’s basketball teams who have achieved so much,” Leu said.
In this Q&A, Leu discusses her team’s role in caring for Triton basketball athletes throughout their journey to the NCAA tournament. Although the players’ run ended, their accomplishments are revered and celebrated throughout UC San Diego.
What was your path to head team physician, and what has this experience meant to you and the physician care team?
This historic moment carries special meaning for me as a UC San Diego women’s basketball alumnus. I played on the team when we were in our final years of Division III NCAA basketball. Our entire care team has been proud to support our athletes in their continued dominance in Division II, and now their extraordinary success during their first year of eligibility for post-season play in Division I.
Amy Leu, DO, primary care physician and sports medicine specialist at UC San Diego Health, is the head team physician for the UC San Diego Tritons. Photo credit: UC San Diego Health
Thanks to the mentorship of Kenneth Taylor, MD, I transitioned into my current role as head team physician in 2022, joined by Alan Shahtaji, DO, associate team physician, and our primary care sports medicine (PCSM) fellows. I am grateful for our incredible multidisciplinary team, which consists of sports medicine, primary care, orthopedics, sports psychology, sports nutrition and athletic trainers. Together, we care for the entire scholar athlete student body, which includes up to 600 athletes and more than 40 UC San Diego sports club athletes.
Our sports medicine team has been caring for UC San Diego scholar athletes for more than 30 years. I look forward to many more years of supporting UC San Diego athletics with our health care team.
What is a typical day like?
As team physicians at UC San Diego Health, we all have regular outpatient practices during the week where we see patients and athletes in the office. We are in the Recreation, Intramural and Athletic Complex (RIMAC) training room three half days each week, and our surgical colleagues join us for one half day each week.
Games and tournaments are often in the evening and on weekends, and we are with the team up to an hour prior to the start of the game until the game/competition finishes and all the athletes have been checked on.
What are the services and care you provide to the athletes?
Having a primary care background allows us to provide all aspects of health care for our athletes, including treating everyday illnesses and performing pre-season physicals, cardiac evaluations, specialty referrals and mental health care.
Our additional training in sports medicine provides specialized skills to evaluate and treat all athletic injuries and conditions related to sport, ranging from soft tissue injures, fractures, stress injuries and concussions to overuse and overtraining conditions. We also can perform in-office, sports medicine-based procedures, such as biopsies, laceration repairs and joint injections, and we utilize ultrasound for diagnostic and therapeutic exams and procedures.
The most common injuries we typically manage are ligament sprains (ankle and knee) tendon injuries (ankle, knee, elbow and shoulder), as well as concussions and bone stress injuries. We also manage issues that arise from overtraining or under-fueling. During the games, we can see acute sprains, strains and tears, contusions, dislocations, fractures and concussions.
UC San Diego Health’s primary care sports medicine team has been caring for student athletes for more than 30 years. Pictured here; Amy Leu, DO (left) is head team physician. Tristan Turner (center) and Casey Scheuer (right) are certified athletic trainers supporting the Tritons. Photo courtesy of Leu
Who makes up the physician care team and what makes this work rewarding?
The UC San Diego Health care team includes Alan Shahtaji, DO, associate team physician, and sports medicine fellows Cat Caragee, Alec Contag, Brianna Martinez and Rhiannon Ryan. In addition, we work with our orthopedic surgical colleagues Catherine Robertson, MD; Bryan Leek, MD and Andrew Hurvitz, MD.
We also work closely with the athletic performance unit in the UC San Diego Department of Athletics, which consists of Vanessa Yang, associate athletic director for sports medicine and head athletic trainer; the strength and conditioning team, led by Jon Gregory; sports nutrition, led by Jasmine Chu; and mental health and wellbeing, led by Shane Saenz, PsyD. Our multi-disciplinary team meets weekly to oversee the care of Triton student athletes.
One of the most rewarding things about this role is being able to expand the education and training of our PCSM fellows to include exposure to the multidisciplinary model of team athletics that maintains athlete health and rehabilitates athletes from injury. We provide Triton athletes with “doctor’s clinics” in the training room and sideline coverage for many sports. As this year was the first year UC San Diego was eligible for post-season play, traveling with the team for tournament play and providing medical coverage on the road was a rewarding experience that provided a unique and exciting foundation for our fellows.
It is truly an honor to provide care for our scholar athletes. They are humble, selfless, talented and bright individuals who give their all to this university and their sport. We particularly love having the opportunity to educate athletes about their health and wellbeing while they grow and transition into young adults and develop crucial life skills during their time at UC San Diego.
Sports Medicine and Athletic Programs
UC San Diego Health sports medicine doctors provide team care for athletes.