An Oak Park resident who’s been named one of two team physicians for the Chicago Fire soccer team said he’s excited to take on an appointment with his favorite sport.
Dr. Joshua Blomgren, a sports medicine physician with Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, also serves as a team physician for the Chicago White Sox and for Willowbrook High School in Villa Park. Additionally, he volunteers as a medical provider each year at the Chicago Marathon.
He and Dr. Jeff Mjaanes were named the Fire’s team physicians in February; the soccer team’s season runs from March through late fall.
“It is my favorite sport,” said Blomgren, who played soccer in high school and during college at Benedictine University in Lisle.
With a background in general medical care as well as sports medicine, Blomgren often treats all sorts of ailments, whether they be sports-related injuries or illnesses, skin disorders or infections.
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“Basically, we’re in charge of keeping them as healthy as they can be,” he said.
Dr. Charles Bush-Joseph, head team physician for the Chicago White Sox and managing partner of Midwest Orthopedics at Rush, said a team physician is “the ultimate concierge physician,” since the doctors tend to be the first point of contact when an athlete has an issue that needs addressing.
Due to the nature of soccer, Blomgren said team doctors sit on the bench in the event that they’re needed on the field immediately to attend to a serious injury. Because baseball sees fewer collisions or catastrophic injuries, he said, physicians usually sit in the stands or in the training room and are reachable by radio or phone.
The most frequent soccer injuries tend to be those to hamstrings or other pulled muscle issues.
“Ankle and knee injuries are probably a very close second,” he said.
Although people may think taking care of athletes sounds glamorous, Blomgren said team physicians are focused on the routine maintenance of the players and on identifying factors that may make them prone to injury.
“They’re workhorses, they’re employees,” he said. “It’s taking care of a finely trained and fit industrial worker.”
Blomgren’s background in soccer and a period of time he himself spent on the bench while recovering from surgery has given him the opportunity to better relate to the players.
“It gives you credibility and allows you to relate with the athletes on a more personal level,” he said.
The job also offers a unique way to be part of a major organization — especially fun in a city like Chicago that takes its sports seriously, he added.
“You feel like you’re a part of the team,” Blomgren said. “It’s a way to be a part of a team and involved in that aspect of team sports.”
Bush-Joseph has known Blomgren for several years and said Blomgren’s reached a level of recognition he deserves. Having been a collegiate soccer player, Blomgren knows how athletes think, and that’s an asset, Bush-Joseph said.
“I love the guy,” Bush-Joseph said, calling Blomgren a warm and caring person and doctor. “My only fear is he doesn’t spread himself too thin.”
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.