Transcription:
Meet the Official Team Physicians for Mizzou Athletics - Dr. James Stannard

Maggie McKay (host): Caring for and treating elite athletes is a big responsibility, especially when several sports are involved, like football, gymnastics, cheerleading, and the Golden Girls Dance Team. But so is treating the community. Today we have the pleasure of getting to know Dr. Jim Stannard with the University of Missouri Healthcare. Let's meet the official team physicians for Mizzou Athletics. Today we're talking with Dr. Jim Stannard. Thank you so much for being here today. Dr. Stannard, can you please introduce yourself

Dr. James Stannard: Sure Maggie, thanks for having me. As she mentioned, my name is Jim Stannard. I'm the chairman of Orthopedic Surgery here at the University of Missouri, and then also the head team physician for University of Missouri Athletics.

Host: And how did you originally get interested in this branch of medicine?

Dr. James Stannard: I think like many people that end up in orthopedics, I was an athlete in my younger years and had had an injury and no one in my family was a physician, but as I was always very interested in my body and how it worked relative to athletics and started to learn how you had to work to overcome injuries. I came to admire the orthopedic surgeon that I had treating me and kind of developed the interest of pursuing it based on that.

Host: And you have a big family. Tell us how many children.

Dr. James Stannard: We do have an unusually large family. There's seven children that my wife and I of 41 years have.

Host: Wow. And so how do you balance that, the family with your career and the children? I mean, that's a lot.

Dr. James Stannard: It can be a challenge. I have a amazing wife at home that plays a big part in it, but I also try to block off some time to do individual dates when they were younger. They're mostly outta the house now. Our youngest is a freshman or sophomore now in college. But when they were in the house, we would block off a one-on-one date. It when there were all seven in the house, it would be once every seven weeks. So I'd try to do one a week. and just things like that because the career can be very busy and it can be hard on family if you don't try to do some things to block time.

Host: Have any of your children shown an interest in medicine?

Dr. James Stannard: Yes, actually one of them I have a number that are working in medical fields, two physical therapists, daughters. But my second son, third child, is an orthopedic surgery resident here at the University of Missouri. So he' s finished a PhD and then an MD and now is doing residency here in, orthopedics.

Host: How awesome did that make you feel? I mean, that had to be rewarding.

Dr. James Stannard: Yeah, it, definitely is. And, it's a little confusing at times cuz of course he's the one that my wife insisted on naming James. So, it creates some difficulties at times, but no, it's very special for sure.

Host: So when you're bringing your expertise and your world-class care to mizzou's athletes, what fuels your passion?

Dr. James Stannard: I think a, a number of things. the fact that these are the types of injuries have always really interested me, especially complicated knee injuries has been kind of the research and clinical focus of my career. and then working with these. Athletes who are really passionate. One of my children played college football one year at Missouri and four at Memphis. And so I know just how much it matters. I played, but at a little bit lower level in the Ivy League. But knowing at this really elite level in the Southeastern conference these folks are so dedicated to their sport.

And when they're injured, it can really set them backwards and make them really struggle in many, many respects. And so the chance to work side by side with them and with the training staff to see if we can restore them and get them back out on the field is incredibly rewarding and just it's fun to work with the, this level of athlete.

Host: And not to embarrass you, Dr. Stannard, are considered an elite physician and a national leader in your field, so caring for elite athletes as well as the community. So what can a patient from the community expect when they come to be treated at Mizzou Orthopedic Institute?

Dr. James Stannard: We definitely try to bring the same thing to our patients that we do to the athletes terms of the same levels of expertise and the same quality and timeliness of care. So, when they come, I think what they can expect is that we're gonna do the same thing for them that we would do if they were a member of the Missouri football team or the Missouri Gymnastics team.

Host: And as the official team of doctors physicians for Mizzou athletics, what does it take to keep the athletes like the tigers in football, just to name one sport you treat at the top of their game? What is each team member responsible for as they work together?

Dr. James Stannard: Well, I think as far as the caregiving team, the athletic trainers are the core of it. They're with them daily and they are kind of our eyes and ears down at the football complex. We rotate down and try to make sure we go down for a once a week evening visit. On the heavier hitting practice days, myself and a partner who also is an orthopedic surgeon, and then we have a primary care partner as well, who's constantly down there taking care of them. And then if something happens on the other days, they call and we either go down to the football complex, which is five minutes from where I practice, or they come up to our clinic. That's one beauty of. Proximity where I look out my window at the football stadium and so, it makes it easy to go back and forth and very convenient.

Host: That's cool. And as a surgeon, what's the most rewarding thing about what you do?

Dr. James Stannard: I think getting somebody back out on the field, one of our players who's had a really great year this year had a real complicated injury last year, and I think he, he had had aspirations to the NFL and then started to doubt was it gonna happen and became a little frustrated and now he's. Then back out on the field and really been cited for his play this year. And I think he's very much back in the mix to potentially be a Sunday player. And so, that very rewarding. But it's also rewarding when it's somebody who maybe isn't gonna play on Sundays but is given their heart every bit as much and trying to get them back out to the level that they can handle as far as a player and then also get their joint back in good shape for the rest of life as well.

Host: And what's the most challenging thing about being a surgeon?

Dr. James Stannard: I think, you know, th, challenges can be sometimes you get really complex injuries and, and you're trying to put it back together, and occasionally things aren't going the way you would like them to and, trying to adjust on the fly. It's not like a cookbook and a textbook and, sometimes everything's really smooth and sometimes the body's not responding the way you'd like it to, or you get inside and it's a way worse situation than you thought.

And so adjusting on the fly to make sure we're delivering the absolute best we can for these folks and, and then walking 'em through the recovery process. It's not, I do my surgery. I, did one of our ball players on, Monday. And, it's not like, okay, now we're done. I'm gonna be working with him hand in hand, along with our phenomenal trainer staff to bring him back. And it's probably gonna be a nine to 12 month process to get him all the way there. And he's gonna need encouragement along the way. We may have to make some adjustments along the way.

Hopefully we won't run into any major. Difficulties or complications, but it's a long process and it's also making good decisions about when is he really ready to go into various levels. It's usually a stepwise progression to get back to play, and it's, again, it's not so much cookbook as making good judgements as you see how their muscles are coming back and how that they're really ready and jumping too fast can ruin it. But you also don't want to take too long and keep them out of play longer than necessary.

Host: And you mentioned having to do things on the fly and make quick decisions. How do you manage that pressure that comes with your job? Do you do something during your off time like, I don't know, meditation, yoga?

Dr. James Stannard: I don't do anything like that. I have strong spiritual beliefs and that helps. I do like to garden and things like that to decompress. But I think when you're in the operating room, it's a little bit of, it's our game field, and. You really tend to, zone in and time almost seems to stop, you know, you can look up and four or five hours have gone by in a really complex case, and you realize now that you're tired, but during the moment, you're really concentrating and honed in on it. And it seems like that time just flies by in most situations.

Host: And it must feel like these kids you're taking care of on the field are like your own. I mean, does it just how do you deal with that when you're thinking like, this could be my kid, you know? How do you kind of comfort them when they're injured?

Dr. James Stannard: Yeah, I definitely do feel that. I've had a, the one that's now a resident was a Mizzou lacrosse player, but I had college football player at Memphis and Mizzou who coaches now I had a cheerleader at Mizzou among my kids. And so, our family has always, athletics been a big part. I played, as I said, at a, a little bit lower level than the SEC, but, but Sports has always been such a big deal. So I did watch when my football playing son got hurt for the year, it really set him backwards mentally. So that's a component I think we have to watch.

I had that conversation with the player I took care of on Monday that this is a sudden big change from what he was hoping for and let him know that, look, we have help. really down and let me know we can take care of things. And I spoke with his mom about it as well because when I got that call that my son was really struggling and I was from a distance. So I've been, kinda where the parents are. I've been where the athletes are as well since I played. And then trying to put that all together and just support them through the whole process, I think is really important.

Host: That's great that you have all those perspectives to bring to your patients, whether it's the athletes or from the community. Dr. Stannard, what's your ultimate goal when it comes to your team of physicians and your patients, whether they're athletes or from the community?

Dr. James Stannard: I think the goal for most orthopedic surgeons, our specialty is not too often one of life and death occasionally, but not very frequently. But it is one of restoring mobility, restoring the ability to do things like athletics or even to walk in some areas of our subspecialty. And so I think that the ultimate goal is to restore people back to where they were with the natural body that God gave them and, and try and get 'em back to that place because that's something we all take for granted until we. And then once you lose it, can be such a big issue. I dealt with major surgery myself about three years ago and, it's a big setback. And so walking people through that and there isn't anything a whole lot more fun than seeing them get back out and get back to what they love and love to do.

Host: What's your favorite sport?

Dr. James Stannard: As far as watching, and that sort of thing. I think probably football. I love college basketball too, and took care of our basketball team for many years. I'm no good at basketball, but I love it. But I love both and I really love college sports a lot more than professional, which maybe comes from my Alabama roots that I was down there for 13 years before coming to Missouri and everything's about college sports. They're not professional. So, and then as far as things I enjoy doing myself, snow skiing things like that are things jogging, keeping fit are all things I very much.

Host: So would you say that's your hobby? Pretty much. The skiing and the athletics or anything else? You said gardening.

Dr. James Stannard: That, and I do very much enjoy both landscaping and gardening. So when I want to go out and either work off some frustrations and just get dirty or I grow all the things for my wife to. Can and make homemade salsa. And we have a lot of fun with that, although we have to fight with the critters around here sometimes over my garden. But I do very much enjoy, we live on eight acres and, love landscaping and doing that sort of thing as well.

Host: That's so nice. That sounds so great. Do you ever have time to watch TV like Netflix? Do you have any guilty pleasure shows?

Dr. James Stannard: I mostly end up watching some movies, and often corny ones like Hallmark Hall of Fame or that kind of thing, or sports. I don't have any, any series that I really watch on a regular basis, but I do enjoy both movies and, and watching athletic events.

Host: What do you hope for your children's generation as far as the way things are going in the world?

Dr. James Stannard: World seems like a pretty crazy place right now. Dealing with the pandemic has been such a, dominating thing when I go to my leadership job here and trying to just keep the doors open and keep people here working and that sort of thing so we can take care of patients. I hope all of that settles out. I hope our country can find a middle ground again. Right now, it seems like everything's either one side or the other and very little. So I hope we can go back to finding some of that sort of thing and kind of rekindle the things I do think Make America great and I think they're still in there in the background, but somewhere with the craziness of of this pandemic and all of these other things, it seems to have gotten off track a little bit. So I hope we'll revert back to those things that I really do think make this country pretty.

Host: All right. what in your mind is the best thing about practicing medicine, what you do?

Dr. James Stannard: I think you have an opportunity to meet people at a moment of sudden difficulty in, I do things that are related to trauma and then sports and in both cases, Something happens suddenly when everything maybe seemed to be going just great, and all of a sudden it's not, and your world is turned upside down sometimes seriously upside down like a car accident with multiple broken bones or a knee dislocation sometimes not as seriously upside down, but your ACL's torn.

You can no longer play and you're not sure you're ever get back to what you love. And the chance to intervene and hit a person in a moment of really serious need and. Reach out and let them know, Hey, we'll get through this. It's gonna be okay. And we'll walk with you through this whole thing. And there aren't that many occupations where you get to work with people in really difficult times like that and try to help them over a tough time. And so it is one of the really unique pleasures of this job that, that I don't, I try not to take for granted.

Host: Just to wrap up Dr. Stannard, what would you like people listening to take away from our conversation today?

Dr. James Stannard: I hope that we really are dedicated to helping restore them to as close as we can to the amazing body we were all given. That we all start to wear out and tear up and that we're here to give them the same kind of care we would give to the University of Missouri athletes. I think we have a group that really is heavily involved with researching the cutting edge and taking things to the next level. And bringing the very newest and best techniques to restoring people. And that yet hopefully keeping a personal touch and letting people know that we really do care and we wanna help them through those tough times.

Host: Thank you so much for your time. Obviously you're very busy and we appreciate you making this time to get to know you a little better. It's been a lot of.

Dr. James Stannard: Thank you, Maggie I enjoyed it.

Host: Again, that's Dr. Jim Standard Surgeon at MU Healthcare and Chair of Orthopedic Surgery, and Medical Director of the Missouri Orthopedic Institute and head of the official team of physicians at Mizzou Athletics. To find out more, you can go to muhealth.org/team docs their webpage, or you can call 573 882-BONE, b o n e. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire library of podcasts for topics of interest to you. Thank you for listening and joining us. I'm Maggie McKay. Be well.