Weekly Interview: Doctor stiches up world class athletes (July 3, 2008)
By Emma Bouthillette
Staff Writer
On March 23, the USA Under-23 Men’s National Soccer Team lost to Honduras in overtime, but still qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The team will leave for China July 24 and Dr. William Heinz, 51, of Freeport, will travel with them.
Heinz is a partner of OA Center for Orthopedics with offices in Portland and Scarborough. He has been working with USA soccer teams since 1989 when he filled in as a team physician for the World Championships in Saudi Arabia. He was planning to travel to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but the team did not qualify, so this will be his first Olympic experience.
“I found out after the men’s team qualified, but in order to be eligible, I had to go through two weeks at the Olympic training center. If they like what they have seen, then they invite you to the bigger competitions. I expected to go to the Olympics four years ago, but its soccer, you can’t ever tell,” Heinz said.
After pre-medical studies at Purdue University in Indiana, Heinz continued his education at Indiana University. He completed residencies and fellowships in Indianapolis. He said the decision to move to Maine came in 1989, after his trip with the soccer team to Saudi Arabia.
“I was talking to the fellows here and they were looking for someone with my qualifications. I had spent an extra six months specializing in shoulder related injuries and had planned to go back to where I did my fellowship for work, but decided to come here instead,” Heinz said.
Since then, Heinz has partnered with the OA Center for Orthopedics and worked with many local sports teams as well as the USA under-23, national, indoor and women’s soccer teams. Heinz is a team physician for Deering High School, working on the sidelines during football season. He has also worked with the Portland Sea Dogs, the Portland Ballet Company, Christian Academy, Gould Academy and Bowdoin College.
“Back when I was a resident in the emergency room, I really liked working on the sports injuries that came in. After finishing up my fellowship for internal medicine, I decided to do a fellowship in sports medicine,” Heinz said.
Heinz will travel with the team for their entire Olympic journey beginning July 23 when the team plays a game outside of San Francisco. Heinz said on July 24, the team will receive professional credentials and attire for traveling and attending Olympic events. After the team arrives in Hong Kong July 25 they will play two matches during their five-day stay. The team will play the first round consisting of two matches against Japan and the Netherlands in Nanjing before heading to Beijing for the remainder of the Olympics.
“I’m expected to be with the team. Everything the team does, I’m expected to do. I have the credentials to get into all the same places they do, and when the team has a day off, I’m expected to be in the Olympic Village clinic,” Heinz said.
For this reason, Heinz is leaving his family behind while he works with the team for more than a month.
“My wife is very understanding. It is more or less a business trip. The partners [at OA Center for Orthopedics] are wonderful too. They are pitching in to cover the Sea Dogs and football will already have started before I get back,” Heinz said.
Heinz said while all partners cover the majority of orthopedics, he specializes in sports medicine with at least half of his practice working with shoulder injuries.
Heinz, however, needs to be prepared for anything.
“The majority of injuries with the soccer team is bumps and bruises, but I suspect there will be a few ankle and knee injuries. Injuries can run the whole gamut. On this previous trip to Toulon, France, I had to stitch up two players that got lacerations through bumping heads,” Heinz said.
“A big concern is also the water in China and ‘traveler’s diarrhea.’ We have to make sure the athletes don’t eat fruit they haven’t peeled, don’t eat any ice and only drink bottled water. Pollution is another concern,” Heinz said.
The USA Under-23 Men’s National Soccer Team has not declared their player roster yet, but Heinz said the team’s youngest members are 19 or 20 years old, and all are currently on professional teams. Once a team of 18 players is declared, a player can’t be replaced because of injury, so they can wait until the last minute, Heinz said.
“I think the team can do very well. It is a fully professional team. They have played on MLS [Major League Soccer] and abroad with various European teams,” Heinz said.
Heinz said the best any USA men’s team has played, was when he traveled with the team to Saudi Arabia. That team placed fourth in the world championship.
Staff Writer
On March 23, the USA Under-23 Men’s National Soccer Team lost to Honduras in overtime, but still qualified for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The team will leave for China July 24 and Dr. William Heinz, 51, of Freeport, will travel with them.
Heinz is a partner of OA Center for Orthopedics with offices in Portland and Scarborough. He has been working with USA soccer teams since 1989 when he filled in as a team physician for the World Championships in Saudi Arabia. He was planning to travel to the 2004 Olympics in Athens, but the team did not qualify, so this will be his first Olympic experience.
“I found out after the men’s team qualified, but in order to be eligible, I had to go through two weeks at the Olympic training center. If they like what they have seen, then they invite you to the bigger competitions. I expected to go to the Olympics four years ago, but its soccer, you can’t ever tell,” Heinz said.
After pre-medical studies at Purdue University in Indiana, Heinz continued his education at Indiana University. He completed residencies and fellowships in Indianapolis. He said the decision to move to Maine came in 1989, after his trip with the soccer team to Saudi Arabia.
“I was talking to the fellows here and they were looking for someone with my qualifications. I had spent an extra six months specializing in shoulder related injuries and had planned to go back to where I did my fellowship for work, but decided to come here instead,” Heinz said.
Since then, Heinz has partnered with the OA Center for Orthopedics and worked with many local sports teams as well as the USA under-23, national, indoor and women’s soccer teams. Heinz is a team physician for Deering High School, working on the sidelines during football season. He has also worked with the Portland Sea Dogs, the Portland Ballet Company, Christian Academy, Gould Academy and Bowdoin College.
“Back when I was a resident in the emergency room, I really liked working on the sports injuries that came in. After finishing up my fellowship for internal medicine, I decided to do a fellowship in sports medicine,” Heinz said.
Heinz will travel with the team for their entire Olympic journey beginning July 23 when the team plays a game outside of San Francisco. Heinz said on July 24, the team will receive professional credentials and attire for traveling and attending Olympic events. After the team arrives in Hong Kong July 25 they will play two matches during their five-day stay. The team will play the first round consisting of two matches against Japan and the Netherlands in Nanjing before heading to Beijing for the remainder of the Olympics.
“I’m expected to be with the team. Everything the team does, I’m expected to do. I have the credentials to get into all the same places they do, and when the team has a day off, I’m expected to be in the Olympic Village clinic,” Heinz said.
For this reason, Heinz is leaving his family behind while he works with the team for more than a month.
“My wife is very understanding. It is more or less a business trip. The partners [at OA Center for Orthopedics] are wonderful too. They are pitching in to cover the Sea Dogs and football will already have started before I get back,” Heinz said.
Heinz said while all partners cover the majority of orthopedics, he specializes in sports medicine with at least half of his practice working with shoulder injuries.
Heinz, however, needs to be prepared for anything.
“The majority of injuries with the soccer team is bumps and bruises, but I suspect there will be a few ankle and knee injuries. Injuries can run the whole gamut. On this previous trip to Toulon, France, I had to stitch up two players that got lacerations through bumping heads,” Heinz said.
“A big concern is also the water in China and ‘traveler’s diarrhea.’ We have to make sure the athletes don’t eat fruit they haven’t peeled, don’t eat any ice and only drink bottled water. Pollution is another concern,” Heinz said.
The USA Under-23 Men’s National Soccer Team has not declared their player roster yet, but Heinz said the team’s youngest members are 19 or 20 years old, and all are currently on professional teams. Once a team of 18 players is declared, a player can’t be replaced because of injury, so they can wait until the last minute, Heinz said.
“I think the team can do very well. It is a fully professional team. They have played on MLS [Major League Soccer] and abroad with various European teams,” Heinz said.
Heinz said the best any USA men’s team has played, was when he traveled with the team to Saudi Arabia. That team placed fourth in the world championship.
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