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As Tommy John Surgeries Soar in MLB, This Doctor Says Even Teen Athletes are Considering Them

Experts say throwing a baseball places an extraordinary amount of stress on the human elbow. And during each baseball season, the toll of pitching requires an increasing number of players to endure ulnar collateral ligament surgery, sometimes called "Tommy John" surgery, named after the first pitcher to receive it. Josh Hustedt, MD, MHS, assistant professor of Orthopedics at the U of A College of Medicine – Phoenix, discusses the procedure, which takes a pitcher off the mound for more than a year and then requires them to re-learn how to throw.

About the College

Founded in 2007, the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix inspires and trains exemplary physicians, scientists and leaders to optimize health and health care in Arizona and beyond. By cultivating collaborative research locally and globally, the college accelerates discovery in a number of critical areas — including cancer, stroke, traumatic brain injury and cardiovascular disease. Championed as a student-centric campus, the college has graduated more than 900 physicians, all of whom received exceptional training from nine clinical partners and more than 2,700 diverse faculty members. As the anchor to the Phoenix Bioscience Core, which is projected to have an economic impact of $3.1 billion by 2025, the college prides itself on engaging with the community, fostering education, inclusion, access and advocacy.