PATIENT CARE
Former sports medicine fellow Abhi Davlapur, M.D., tends to a mixed martial arts fighter during an event in 2019.
Tad Seifert, M.D., left, and Sean Cupp, M.D., 2000 graduates of the OU College of Medicine, provide medical coverage to the Cleveland Browns.
Oklahoma influence on the team. OU College of Medicine graduates Sean Cupp, M.D., and Tad Seifert, M.D., keep the team healthy and safe as lead medical physician and neurotrauma consultant, respectively. Tulsa campus sports medicine physicians and faculty members Lamont Cavanagh, M.D., and Tommy Kern, M.D., work with a patient.
Concussions have been taken more seriously in the past decade as well. No longer do athletes simply “get their bell rung”; rather, physicians make decisions that allow the athlete’s brain to heal appropriately so they aren’t at risk for developing problems or for having a subsequent concussion. Over the past year, COVID-19 has challenged sports medicine physicians in new and unexpected ways. Early in the pandemic, there was concern that athletes who got COVID-19 might face cardiac issues after infection. Although the risk now appears to be much lower than originally thought, the virus is still a daily concern and testing is conducted frequently. Handling both the unforeseen and the routine is the role of a sports medicine fellow, no matter where they ultimately practice medicine. “Our fellowship provides that extra tool in the toolbox for what they want to do when they complete the program,” Coleman said.
College of Medicine Alumni Keeping Cleveland Browns Safe and Healthy Former OU Sooners football quarterback Baker Mayfield has made his mark in the National Football League since joining the Cleveland Browns in 2018. But he’s not the only
18
Cupp has served as the Browns’ lead medical physician since 2014, and he is a sports medicine specialist for University Hospitals, Cleveland Medical Center, where he also serves as co-director of the UH Sports Medicine Institute. He is an assistant professor in the Division of Sports Medicine, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. He graduated from the OU College of Medicine in 2000, followed by his residency in family medicine at the University of Alabama Birmingham-Huntsville. He then returned home for his primary care sports medicine fellowship at the OU College of Medicine. Seifert is one of the NFL’s unaffiliated neurotrauma consultants and is assigned to the Cleveland Browns for game-day coverage, acting as an impartial, independent evaluator for concussions. He has served in this capacity in the NFL since 2016 and has been assigned to the Browns since 2018. Seifert is the director of Norton Healthcare’s Sports Neurology Program in Louisville, Kentucky, and is a clinical faculty member with the University of Louisville’s Department of Sports Medicine. Seifert also graduated from the OU College of Medicine in 2000. He then completed his intern year at the University of Louisville, followed by his residency in neurology at the University of Texas and a fellowship in headache and facial pain at the Houston Headache Clinic. Cupp and Seifert quickly formed a friendship during medical school because of their love of sports, especially Sooner football. They also realized that they had competed against each other at high school track meets – Cupp as a runner and pole vaulter in Watonga and Seifert as a mid-distance runner from Enid. “Getting to see Tad on five or six Sundays each fall during Cleveland Browns games is great,” Cupp said. “We get to
[ S p r i n g /S u m m e r 2 0 21 ]
