Pietro Tonino, MD, program director of sports medicine and professor of orthopedic surgery and rehabilitation at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Ill., serves as both the team physician for the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers NCAA men's volleyball team as well as for the Lewis University Flyers.
Where were his loyalties in taking care of two opposing teams?
"I was strictly neutral," Dr. Tonino said in a release.
The Ramblers have won two-straight NCAA men's volleyball championships, and although Dr. Tonino said volleyball injuries are not frequent as contact sports, he said injuries — especially in the shoulder — do occur. Dr. Tonino and his colleagues treated injuries and taught injury-prevention techniques throughout the season to both teams.
Dr. Tonino received his medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago and is fellowship-trained in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine from Southern California-based Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedics.