Meet the Phillies’ Assistant Physician
The sweetest memory from Dr. Rob Frederick’s nearly 25 years as the Philadelphia Phillies’ assistant physician occurred during an otherwise forgettable spring training game.
When spring training rolls around each winter, Frederick ’81 spends a week in Clearwater, Fla., providing medical care for the Phillies baseball team. It’s a breezy, restful stretch of catching up before the games really matter. That meant Frederick’s 12-year-old son, Andrew, could work as a batboy during his school holiday. When Ryan Howard, then the Phils’ star slugger, uncorked a home run and high-fived Andrew after Howard rounded the bases, novelty gave way to fatherly pride.
“That was better than any World Series or anything else,” says the elder Frederick, who does have a World Series ring courtesy of the Phillies 2008 championship season.
He never wears it — “I’m not a flashy soul.” Frederick’s work as the associate director of sports medicine at Philadelphia’s Rothman Orthopaedics — which is also the official orthopedic partner of other Philly sports teams — isn’t all about getting close to the action and the glory. “With orthopedics, sports is the one field where you’re almost the primary care doctor for the musculoskeletal system,” he says. “I get parents. I get their kids. As the kids grow up, I get their spouses.” He admits that he frequently falls behind on his appointments because he’s catching up with patients. Those relationships, he says, are “a wonderful part” of the job.
The getting-to-know-you process in Major League Baseball has its share of brushback pitches. Agents and team officials want answers about players’ medical conditions. After all, wins and millions of dollars are at stake. Adaptation is required. “You don’t want to miss anything,” says Frederick, who constantly reviews medical literature and rehab procedures to guarantee he’s providing the best care.
But, to Frederick, staying current means nothing if you’re not human. “Each one of my patients is a person,” he says. Players have different stressors that stoke injuries, as well as different personalities. Though Frederick has insight into the athlete’s mindset — he ran cross country and track and field at Colgate — that knowledge does not drive his relationships.
“You have to be someone who communicates effectively with patients and family members,” Frederick says, “to have them understand and feel comfortable bringing things to your attention. [This way] you can provide the best possible care and help bring them back to the playing field at a high level.”
Frederick knows Rothman’s status as the healing hands of Philadelphia’s most talented and decorated athletes — including those at Villanova University (home to a storied men’s basketball team) and the NFL’s Eagles (practically a religion in the sports-crazed city) — provides a halo effect. There is no point limiting those services to the select, brawny few. Sure, many of the pros have Frederick’s cellphone number, but so does the father of five who tore his ACL in the Thanksgiving Day family football game. And yes, by the way, Rob — never Dr. Frederick, he hates the white coat formality — will open the office on a Saturday for an appointment.
“If I can make someone’s life a little better, it’s worth it,” Frederick says.