6 to 8 Weeks: Perspectives in Sports Medicine

Episode: Getting Into Med School — GPA, MCAT, Shadowing, Gap Years & Research

Episode Overview

In this episode, the hosts step away from injury talk to answer one of their most common inbox questions: how do you actually get into medical school? They break down what really moves the needle in an application — GPA and MCAT, choice of major and u...

Episode Summary

Dr. Brian Feeley interviews Dr. Nirav Pandya about the recently published study he co-authored on short-term workload patterns preceding Achilles tendon ruptures in NBA players — how the paper came together, what it did (and didn't) find, and why it caught national media attention. The discussion also digs into the difference between correlation and causation, the study's limitations, and what the fin...

[00:00] Introduction — what's new in rotator cuff research
[00:39] Breaking down the new JAMA Internal Medicine paper: a Finnish population-based study of 600+ patients (ages 40–75) who received bilateral shoulder MRIs
[01:00] Key finding: imaging findings were nearly identical between asymptomatic (96%) and symptomatic (98%) patients; full-thickness tears were the only finding more common in symptomatic patie...

LeBron at 41: The Sports Medicine Case for (and Against) Signing Him
6 to 8 Weeks: Perspectives in Sports Medicine

Episode Summary: With LeBron James's free agency dominating headlines, the hosts break down what it actually means, medically, for a team to sign a 41-year-old former MVP — covering his historic longevity, his known injury history, and what a "physical" and medical clearance process looks like for a star wit...

Episode Summary

With sub-internship (away rotation) season approaching, the hosts pull back the curtain on what orthopaedic faculty and residents are actually evaluating when a visiting medical student rotates through their program — and how to make the most of a high-stakes, high-anxiety few weeks that can shape where a student matches.

Timestamps

00:00 — Intro
Welcome and standard disclaimer: discussion is for in...

Youth Soccer, the World Cup, and America's Pay-to-Play Problem
6 to 8 Weeks: Perspectives in Sports Medicine

Runtime:~23 minutes

Episode Summary

With the World Cup underway, the hosts ask a controversial question: why isn't the US better at men's soccer, given a talent pool that dwarfs countries like Belgium and Norway? The conversation pivots from there into the real subject of the episode — how America's pay-to-play yo...

Episode Overview
With Dr. Drew Lansdown away (and reportedly playing golf in Scotland), Brian and Nirav dive deep into the sports medicine landscape of the FIFA World Cup 2026. The episode covers the unique injury patterns in soccer, what surgeons and physicians need to understand about treating elite soccer players, and the injury prevention strategies that have strong data behind them.

Key Topics Covered

1. Why Soccer ...

A Surgeon Goes to Europe
The AOSSM/ESCA Traveling Fellowship
Hosts: Dr. Nirav Pandya & Dr. Brian Feeley
Guest: Dr. Drew Lansdown

Episode Summary
Drew Lansdown is back from four weeks abroad — and we have questions. He was selected for the prestigious AOSSM/ESCA Traveling Fellowship, which sent him to six orthopedic centers across Europe before capping the trip at the ESCA annual meeting in Prague. In t...