Wednesday was Match Day across the country for aspiring sports and exercise medicine physicians and two new fellows, Anthony D’Onofrio, D.O., and Jesse Gettinger, M.D., officially joined the UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine Fellowship.
Sponsored by the Department of Family and Community Medicine, the ACGME-accredited fellowship combines comprehensive sports medicine training with opportunities in exercise and lifestyle medicine and family medicine practices. It is part of the UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine program, a partnership between the departments of family and community medicine, orthopaedics and physical medicine and rehabilitation.
Unlike many other fellowships, UAB’s Sports & Exercise Medicine Fellowship is a two-year program and includes the opportunity to earn a Master of Science in Exercise and Nutrition. That degree, combined with the hands-on clinical experience fellows receive in UAB's family medicine clinics, prepares fellows to be well-rounded physicians, well versed not only in sports medicine but in exercise, nutrition and family medicine.
UAB fellows also get the opportunity to work directly with athletes at every level, from youth sports to UAB student-athletes to some of Birmingham’s most competitive professional teams, as the UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine program provides on and off-field care for the Birmingham Legion FC, Birmingham Bulls hockey, Birmingham Vulcans Rugby and others. This year's fellows will also join as the UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine program cares for athletes in The World Games 2022, which will bring thousands of elite athletes to Birmingham.
“The combination of opportunities we are able to offer at UAB makes for a really unique and rigorous fellowship program, and we are so excited to welcome Drs. D’Onofrio and Gettinger to that experience,” said Ian McKeag, M.D., M.S., assistant professor and director of the fellowship program. “Both of them really stood out during the interview process and I am thrilled that they will be joining us in Birmingham.”
D’Onofrio completed his medical education at Lake Eri College of Osteopathic Medicine and his undergraduate education at Saint Vincent College in Pennsylvania. He received several scholarships and awards in medical school, including the Michael J. Feinstein, D.O., Family Medicine Award for dedication to primary care. He is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.
Gettinger is an alumnus of the UAB Heersink School of Medicine, where he graduated in 2019, and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama. He is a member of Alpha Omega Alpha, a national medical honor society, and the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine. While in medical school, he received a research grant from the Infectious Disease Society of America for a summer project, among other honors.
The new fellows will join the UAB Sports & Exercise Medicine program this summer. Matthew Miesch, M.D., and Christian Muller, D.O., are currently fellows in the program. You can learn more about their work and the Sports & Exercise Medicine Fellowship here.