The University of British Columbia’s Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Centre (AMSMC) was inaugurated as a FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence on September 1, 2016.
UBC’s sports medicine centre is one of only two in Canada, and just three in the U.S., to attain the designation from the Federation Internationale de Football Association, based in Zurich.
L-R: Jiri Dvorak, Chief Medical Officer, FIFA; Deborah Money, Executive Vice Dean, UBC Faculty of Medicine; Rob Drapala, Director, Soccer Medicine & Physician, AMSMC; Steve Reed, Vice President, Canadian Soccer Association; Don McKenzie, Director, Sports Medicine, AMSMC
Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer, Steve Reed, Vice President of Canada Soccer Association and Deborah Money, Executive Vice Dean of the Faculty of Medicine were among those speaking at the inauguration ceremony, while others, including Bob Lenarduzzi, President of Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined as special guests.
UBC in Vancouver is a highly respected academic institution and jointly with McGill University in Montreal, we are proud and motivated to support the development of Football Medicine in Canada.
Dr. Jiri Dvorak, FIFA’s Chief Medical Officer
FIFA Medical Centres of Excellence must demonstrate their leadership in soccer medicine through a strict selection process. Accreditation is granted for a period of five years, during which all centres report annually on their activities.
The designation serves as an endorsement of the centre’s ability to offer expert treatment for injuries and guidance on injury prevention for soccer players, from elite levels to youths. It also enables the centre to offer FIFA-certified courses on injury prevention, rehabilitation, strength and flexibility training to soccer coaches, athletes, physicians and therapists.
The FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence is located within the Allan McGavin Sport Medicine Centre, currently in a temporary location in the Centre for Brain Health at UBC’s Point Grey campus, while a new, state-of-the-art facility – The Chan Gunn Pavilion – is under construction. The new centre is expected to open in the Spring of 2017 and in addition to housing the clinic, will include a rehabilitation and research gym to assess optimal training techniques and injury recovery strategies.
“UBC’s recognition by FIFA comes at an exciting crossroads for the Faculty of Medicine and our colleagues in the School of Kinesiology,” said Dr. Money. “With the development of the Chan Gunn Pavilion, UBC is ushering in a new era of multidisciplinary collaboration dedicated to improving health through physical activity. Teaching, research and clinical care in proactive health maintenance and disease and injury prevention will be fully integrated under one roof.”
The Allan McGavin Sport Medicine Centre is home to an experienced group of clinicians and scientists who are passionate about their involvement in sport, exercise and medicine. The clinic was one of the first of its kind in Canada opening in 1979. Since then, the group has pioneered innovative research and inspired patient care and community involvement.