History

The fellowship was started in 1991 by Dr. Mark Bracker and is one of the oldest primary care sports medicine fellowships in the nation. In 2001 Dr. Kenneth Taylor, became co-director and still currently serves as the Program Director. Dr. Suraj Achar joined in as the Associate Director in 2004. Dr. Dave Bazzo joined the faculty in 1994 after finishing his fellowship here at UCSD and was key faculty for the program when Dr. Taylor spent 6 months in New Zealand on sabbatical in 2011. In 2012 Dr. Alan Shahtaji came on board after completing his fellowship at Wake Forest and in 2013 and Dr. Amy Leu returned to UCSD after spending some time practicing Sports Medicine at Camp Pendleton. She completed her fellowship at UCSD in 2010. Then, in 2016, Dr. Sarah Merrill joined the faculty after completing her fellowship at UCSD. Now with six faculty members the fellowship continues to expand its goals and services to all of the greater San Diego region.

In 2014 UC San Diego Sports Medicine Physicians have begun a collaboration with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) by delivering care and coverage to our Olympic Athletes at the USOC Training Center in Chula Vista, California. UC San Diego Health has been designated an Official U.S. Olympic Regional Medical Center, joining a national network of leading medical providers selected by the United States Olympic Committee to provide comprehensive medical services to Team USA athletes, including orthopedics and sports medicine, primary care, cardiovascular care, neurosurgery, cancer care and physical therapy. Soon after in 2017, UCSD became the official health care provider of the San Diego Padres, and currently provides comprehensive health care for their Major and Minor League teams and affiliates.

Our fellows come from many locations and backgrounds, ranging from home-grown San Diegans to New Yorkers. Many stay in the San Diego area, however some have moved onto positions ranging from Family Medicine groups, Orthopedics groups, collegiate and Professional Sporting organizations. Most importantly, our training program has enabled our program graduates to flourish and succeed in almost any kind of setting.

Past Fellows