HOLLI W. HAYNIE

Facilitating a fast recovery in his patients is the ultimate goal for orthopedic surgeon John Lochemes. Specializing in feet, ankles, knees and shoulders at Memphis Orthopaedic Group (MOG), Lochemes takes pride in his proactive approach to healing – a rapid workup and diagnosis. He truly enjoys getting people back to their lifestyle and quickly, he said. In fact, he emphatically describes his job as fun.

While Lochemes has a busy clinical schedule with a wide range of patients, he has a special enthusiasm for injury prevention and management in high school athletes. He's been the team physician for Houston High School football since 1996. More recently, he helped MOG develop a sports injury prevention and management program with St. George's Independent Schools, one of several sports medicine programs the group has with local high schools. Lochemes has been on the board of directors for the school since 1999 and his two teenage sons attend St. George's where they participate in various sports, such as lacrosse and football.

Building a strong sports medicine component within high school athletics allows coaches to stay focused on plays while the orthopedists handle medical decisions. Lochemes evaluates students from the sixth grade and up, but the program is geared more toward high school athletics.

"At your high school, if you can't remember having a training room or who your trainer was, it's probably because you didn't have one," he explained. "Coaches tended to be doctors. By virtue of necessity, coaches have been the first responders."

Injury management has changed a lot in the last decade. Today, more high school sports programs include certified athletic trainers by partnering with orthopedic practices, yet there are still disconnects to receiving adept care.

Ultimately the idea, said Lochemes, is to put overuse training and injuries in the proper perspective by, "keeping the small things small and catching the big injuries early so they won't progress and get worse."

"The small injury to the untrained eye looks like no big deal," he continued.

Athletes may rely on pain and if they can walk, but players who get right back up after an injury and charge into the game risk exacerbating a minor issue, which can lead to permanent damage.

"We'd like to keep the battle scars to a minimum," said Lochemes, but, he added, "you can't win a game by pulling everyone off the field with a booboo here or there."

Ultimately, decisions aren't influenced by how it will affect a game. "We're not totally unaware of the value of a player in a particular season, but I work with the best interest of that player and I'm given that flexibility."

Lochemes' role is oversight – hydration, injury prevention and management. He and other MOG physicians see patients either by referral or make visits to the campus. Lochemes said he has an open door policy – constant communication is maintained with athletic trainers and students can be seen the same day. In addition, Lochemes is working to develop a panel of physician specialists at MOG that parents can call for information and support.

"We notice parents are very happy to have an organized team on the field for their players," he said, "both the trainers and the backup of the orthopedic surgeons and other specialists."

In an effort to further foster injury prevention and management in teen athletes, last year MOG launched an outreach program to assist Memphis City School (MCS) athletic teams. Offering orthopedic support, MCS athletes can see physicians in any of the MOG clinics for a free evaluation and are given referrals to an orthopedic surgeon when appropriate.

"It's been underutilized, but (we want to) get the word out," Lochemes insisted. "If you're an MCS athlete, the coach can call and we'll send an athletic trainer."

In addition to expanding the sports injury program at St. George's, Lochemes is exploring long range ideas with the school to develop a possible student trainer program for students who have a desire to go into sports medicine. He said it could offer, "A boatload of opportunities," for research about injury prevention in the high school age group, an area of sports medicine that could benefit from more data. It could also be a way to partner with companies to do research and, he added, even offer scholarships toward college.

Born in Milwaukee, Lochemes was drawn to medicine in high school. He became fascinated with orthopedics and the way the body heals. After attending college at the University of Wisconsin and Wisconsin Medical School, he set his sights on Campbell Clinic.

"I kept going towards my dream and there were some hurdles, but I was lucky enough to be a resident at Campbell Clinic," he said. "I was going to stop by (Memphis) for four years to do a residency and then go off to some fabulous place to set up camp."
As is common, circumstances kept him here, and he's been with Memphis Orthopaedic Group since 1996. Lochemes has seen an evolution in advanced technology and equipment throughout his career, most exciting of which is the increased precision of procedures with shortened duration of recovery, he said. Utilizing proven techniques and helping patients make informed decisions about their recovery is crucial to faster healing. What Lochemes aims for at the end of every day is that, "we improve quality of life and outcomes."