Self Regional Healthcare Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship aims to train our fellows in a broad spectrum of sports and activity related medical skills and knowledge sets. Our associated residency has a mandate to prepare physicians for the rural and small-town setting, and the fellowship acknowledges the need to prepare primary care sports medicine physicians with the appropriate skills to use in all settings extending from the Friday night fall football game to the scuba diver returning from travel with latent decompression sickness. Our faculty coverage is broad and offers an abundance of expertise. The program is accredited by the ACGME and all graduates have passed the ABFM CAQ exam on their first attempt.
The Program Director is fellowship trained and has been board certified and practicing sports medicine for nearly 15 years. He has been teaching for 10 years, after spending four years in private practice, and is also a fulltime attending for the Family Medicine residency. Our Associate Director has returned after four years of practice in Family and Sports Medicine to fulltime teaching. The founder of our fellowship has been certified in Sports Medicine since certification started in 1993 and continues to be intimately involved in our fellowship, both clinically and with the education of fellows and residents. All three of our faculty have had extensive private practice experience and significant research accomplishments as well. One of the primary faculty will be present in the sports medicine clinic every day and at most, but not all, training room settings. At least one faculty member will be available by phone at all times.
Our Sports Medicine Experience
In addition to our faculty, the fellowship has educators from Orthopedic Surgery, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Clinical Imaging, Exercise Physiology/Sports Nutrition, Physical Therapy, Cardiology, Coaching/Athletic Training, Family Medicine, Dive Medicine, and Neuropsychology. Their responsibilities include but are not limited to the following: consultation, clinical instruction of the fellows, supervision of procedures, research, and didactic teaching.
The educational impact the fellowship offers will be executed in a variety of sports medicine care settings.
The setting for the fellowship training will primarily be in an ambulatory care Sports Medicine Center. This clinic currently sees approximately 12-18 patients in the half day and runs 10 half days per week, with each fellow being assigned about 70% of that time. In addition, training room and sideline coverage comprises 15% of the fellows’ time, and the remaining 15% will be spent in the following settings: mass participation events sports care, ambulatory primary specialty clinic, research, preparation for and attendance of didactic conferences, sports psychology, exercise is medicine, and dive medicine training.
Our fellowship currently has many locations providing institutional support. These locations include Self Regional Healthcare, Optimum Life Center, The Sports Medicine Center at Self Regional Healthcare, Montgomery Center for Family Medicine, Lander University Athletics Training Room, Orthopaedic Associates of the Lakelands, and Erskine College Training Room. Additional sites of coverage include many area high schools. We value the community involvement that is truly an ingrained part of Sports Medicine.
High schools covered: Calhoun Falls Charter School, Dixie High School, Emerald High School, Greenwood Christian School, Greenwood High School, McCormick High School, Ninety Six High School, and Ware Shoals High School. At these locations, the fellow will be responsible for clinical decisions which will include but not be limited to injections, splinting and casting, laceration repair, taping and strapping, making of orthotics, physical therapy, x-rays, athletic injuries, chronic pain and musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Additional and unique experiences of the fellowship are:
- International medicine experience in Peru with >100 injections and minor surgeries in one week, led by Dr. Dave Sealy
- Scuba experience and dive medicine teaching
- Triathlon coverage
- Erskine College football coverage
- Bustling weekly procedural clinic
- Video gait analysis and training
- Invasive compartment testing
- Cardiovascular stress testing
- Training in minimally invasive tenotomy (TenJet)
There are moonlighting opportunities in Urgent Care and the Edgefield County Healthcare Emergency Room.
Mission and Vision Statement
Mission Statement
Our mission is to educate primary care physicians to be skilled in the practice of sports medicine through the evaluation and treatment of sport-related conditions with state of the art therapy, procedures, and research opportunities.
Vision Statement
Through our nationally recognized fellowship, we will consistently develop highly competent sports medicine physicians who deliver innovative, compassionate care to their communities in a variety of sports medicine settings.
Sports Medicine Fellowship Curriculum
Grow in Knowledge, Skill, and Experience in Sports Medicine
The clinical practice setting is the foundation of this fellowship. Musculoskeletal injuries, both acute and overuse, sports injuries, human performance and rehabilitation, and medical issues related to sports, share the major emphasis. The sports medicine fellow sees patients that are representative of all age groups, gender, and level of experience in sporting/exercise interests or activities in the Sports Medicine Center.
The curriculum is designed to meet all ACGME requirements for Primary Care Sports Medicine fellowships.
Curriculum activities include:
- Annual Salary: $64,088
- Direct pre-participation physicals on site at nine local high schools
- Direct pre-participation physicals with ECG screening at Lander University and Erskine College
- One half-day per week with either Orthopedic faculty attending in clinic or operating room or Spine Center Specialists (PM&R or Neurosurgery)
- One half-day continuity experience at their primary specialty location
- Primary care Sports Medicine Center 7-8 half days per week
- College/university and high school weekly training room and event coverage
- Mass participation event coverage
- Sports nutrition, biomechanics, exercise physiology didactics through Lander University faculty
- Neuropsychology and concussion management
- Three half days per year human anatomy musculoskeletal dissections
- Fellow averages 400–500 ultrasound-guided injections per year in clinic
- One hour per week imaging lectures and patient reviews with MSK radiologist
- 10 days per year High Andes Peru with intense procedural experience
- Two nights per year of PADI SCUBA instruction course
- Division II football sideline experience – Erskine College
- Pre and intra-fellowship in-training exam for CAQ preparation
- 25 hours direct ultrasound didactic and hands-on education
- 25 hours direct fracture management education
- Annual AMSSM conference
- Case presentation journal club/ethics with upstate fellowships
- Bimonthly journal club with our FM residents who are on the SM track
- One-half day Admin time per week
- Sideline Emergency Course prior to football season
- Sports Psychology curriculum
- Exercise is Medicine curriculum
- Hands-on experience with PRP and TenJet
- Requirement of minimum of one Academic Activity per year (QI, research, case presentation)
Sports Medicine Fellowship Qualifications
Candidates for the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship should meet the following qualifications:
- Graduated, or projected to graduate, from an ACGME accredited residency in the U.S. in good standing.
- Either board-certified or eligible in FM, IM, Peds, PM and R, EM.
- Competitive USMLE or COMLEX scores, with no failures.
- Demonstrated interest and experience in sports medicine through sideline coverage and rotations.
- Personal athletic experience in high school or collegiate sports valued.
- Recommendation from residency faculty and sports medicine mentors strongly encouraging candidate for a fellowship.
- POC ultrasound experience highly preferred
- A strong desire to teach residents and medical students
- At this time, we cannot accommodate J1 visas
Faculty
Dan Divilbiss, M.D. CAQSM
Fellowship Program Director: Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship
Primary Care, Sports Medicine Fellowship & Residency Education
MUSC AHEC Assistant Professor in Family Medicine
Hometown: Salina, Kansas
Undergrad: Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Medical School: University of Kansas School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS
Residency and Sports Medicine Fellowship: Self Regional Healthcare
Personal Note
My wife, Carey, and I are natives of Kansas. We first came to Greenwood in 2005 when I began my family medicine residency. I was then very fortunate to be the inaugural fellow for the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Self Regional. My training prepared me well for a practice in rural Kansas and to serve as team physician at Fort Hays State University, a NCAA Division II school in Hays, Kansas. After four years of private practice, I was honored to be asked to return to Greenwood as a member of the family medicine and sports medicine faculty in 2013. We are grateful for the opportunity to raise our children in a place that has been so very important in our lives. We are active in our church and of course busy with the activities of our three children (who are growing up too quickly)!
I chose Self (twice!) primarily because Greenwood is a place with wonderful people. I believe the residency and fellowship are staffed with some of the best mentors and friends that a physician in training could ever hope to work with. The community took excellent care of our growing family during my residency and fellowship, and has continued to do so since we returned. My goal is to make sure our current residents and fellows have an experience during their training as well-rounded and fulfilling as the one that I enjoyed.
Jacob Ringenberg, M.D. CAQSM
Associate Fellowship Director: Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship, MUSC AHEC Assistant Professor in Family Medicine, RMSK – Musculoskeletal Ultrasound
Hometown: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Undergrad: Bethel College
Medical School: Indiana University School of Medicine
Residency: Self Regional Healthcare Family Medicine Residency Program
Read More
PERSONAL NOTE:
I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and have spent most of my life in the Midwest. During those years I developed a love for Indiana Hoosier basketball, met my wonderful wife Carly, and completed my undergraduate degree at Bethel College in Mishawaka, IN where I played baseball. I continued my education at Indiana University School of Medicine and then decided to head South and completed my Family Medicine Residency and Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at Self Regional. After spending 4 years practicing Family and Sports Medicine in Vincennes, Indiana, I returned to Greenwood in 2019.
The excitement of a broad scope of practice, my love for musculoskeletal medicine, and the joy of developing meaningful relationships with patients helped me choose Family and Sports Medicine. My love for teaching and the excellent faculty and residents in Greenwood led me back to Self Regional. My clinical interests include concussion management, care for overhead athletes, and musculoskeletal ultrasound.
Outside of work, I spend as much time as I can with Carly and my three children – Brooks, Madison, and Eliana. I also enjoy running, reading Christian non-fiction, remaining active in our local church, and following the Los Angeles Dodgers.
David P. Sealy, M.D. CAQSM FAMSSM
Attending Physician: Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship
MUSC AHEC Professor in Family Medicine
Hometown: San Mateo, California
Undergrad: Claremont McKenna College
Medical School: Duke University School of Medicine
Residency: Medical University of South Carolina
Read More
PERSONAL NOTE
Married to Ann for over 40 years, six great kids, 13 grands and excellent fellowship at church are the joys of my life. I am from the San Francisco Bay Area and was a German major in College while competing in track and field. I had my first taste of the south at Duke Medical School and have loved it ever since. I spent 10 years private practice in Colorado Springs and returned to the South. I have spent 32 years teaching at Self Regional Healthcare while starting the Sports Medicine Fellowship in 2007. I love travelling and spending time with Ann, kids and grands, worship and many sports including SCUBA, alpine skiing, triathlon, mountain biking and disc golf. My life has truly been fulfilled and rewarding with a phenomenal family and wife, good health, a great job and a wonderful Lord.
I chose Self because of the outstanding quality of the clinical experience plus the amazing residents and faculty, option for overseas medical mission work and sports medicine fellowship development opportunity. The 32 years here have been by far the most enjoyable of my life.
Benefits & Salary
SALARY
$60,000
GENERAL BENEFITS AVAILABLE
- $2,100 starting bonus.
- Paid Time Off — 15 working days per year. To be used for the purposes of vacation and sick leave. PTO is not accrued (provided on a use-or-lose basis) and does not roll over.
- 6 Holidays: New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day
- 5 days Christmas leave (either taken week of or week after Christmas).
- Educational allowance: $1050.00 stipend set each year during residency to be used for CME, books, and Exam Fees.
- Will be used for Step 3 during intern year ($815.00).
- Will be reimbursed up to the amount remaining in your educational allowance for The ABFM Board Exam during 3rd year.
- 5 days of CME per year. Will be reimbursed out of your educational allowance.
- Stipend to be determined by Program Director for International medicine elective. International medicine electives require approval of the Program Director. Will follow policy on Elective Away rotations.
- Resident retreat weekend to be determined on an annual basis.
- Hospital-provided laptop, iPhone and iPad during residency.
- Free parking adjacent to hospital and Montgomery Center for Family Medicine.
- ACLS, ALSO, PALS, NALS provided.
- South Carolina licensing fees, state and federal DEA registration duration of employment.
- Initial lab coats (2) provided.
- Membership fees paid for American Academy of Family Physicians, and American Medical Association.
- Health and Dental Insurance: as per current SRH benefits.
- Life Insurance: free to residents up to the level of base salary; may be increased at minimal cost and purchased for spouse at minimal cost.
- Long Term Disability Insurance provided: 40% of salary at no cost. Can purchase additional 20%.
- 403(b) retirement plan: Hospital matches up to 3% of Resident’s contributions
- Malpractice: total coverage provided for program related activities.
- Meals allowance provided for on-call residents
- Pre-Tax Health and Dependent Care Spending accounts available.
- YMCA and Wellness Works facilities available at reduced rates through payroll deduction.