Performing Arts Medicine
What is Performing Arts Medicine (PAM)?
PAM is the branch of medicine addressing the overall health, injury prevention and treatment for performing artists as they practice their craft. It is concerned with the special healthcare needs of dancers, musicians, actors, and other performing artists.
You can read about it in more detail on my blog post.
I did a radio interview with drummer and writer T. G. LaFredo on his website for the K-Jazz Radio Network. Also accessible on Youtube (25 minutes).
For the healthcare professional and others who want to know a little more about PAM, here’s something I co-authored with Dr. Dustin Leek (a fellow physician-musician) in 2018 that gives you a bit more information. It has since been updated by other rehabilitation physicians, but we are proud to have proposed the topic to the American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and subsequently became original authors of the monograph.
Where can I find more information about PAM?
The major organizations include:
- The Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) is the major organization for PAM. The annual International Symposium is the major academic meeting for the field.
- British Association for Performing Arts Medicine (BAPAM)
- Australian Society for Performing Arts Healthcare (ASPAH)
- Athletes and the Arts, a collaboration between sports and arts health organizations for the benefit of both. It has multiple one page fact sheets with tips on keeping yourself healthy and common health conditions.
- International Association for Dance Medicine and Science (IADMS)
- Dance/USA has many informational papers from the Task Force on Dancer Health
PAMA has an extensive list of organizations here. That should be plenty to start with!
Websites by Practicing PAM Clinicians
- Janice Ying at Opus Physical Therapy – she also has a blog and podcast online. Janice is a violinist and a physical therapist, so she knows her stuff. I’ve collaborated with her in the past.
- Martha Paterson at Artistic Advantage – another of my collaborators, Martha is an occupational therapist with certification in hand therapy.
- Jennie Morton – osteopath and mental health from a former dancer, actor, singer. She also has writes about the the health issues of “triple threat” people like herself.
- TheCircusDoc, Emily Scherb – physical therapist with a unique focus and insight into the circus arts
- The Musicians’ Health Collective – professional violist and yoga instructor Kayleigh Miller. She co-hosts a podcast with Janice Ying.
- Molly Gebrian, violist and neuroscience research co-author. Many resources about music and the brain, practicing better, and memorizing more efficiently.
- The Dance Medicine Education Initiative, by physical therapist Andrea Zujko. You can read about dancers and their inspiring stories of recovery from injury here.
- Dr. Selina Shah, sports medicine and dance medicine physician. She wrote the first academic article focusing on pointe readiness for ballerinas. There’s lots more on about dance medicine on her website.
- I’m sure there’s many more, drop me a line if you know of any resources to add.
Podcasts/Interviews about PAM
- Two of my favorite things: Playbill interview featuring musical theater and PAM, with rehabilitation medicine physician Dr. Melody Hrubes and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Meghan Bishop talking about injuries on Broadway.
- Music, Mind and Movement podcast featuring physiotherapist and researcher Bronwen Ackermann (about 1 hour)
- Dr. Sajid Surve at the Texas Center for Performing Arts Health and Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (95 minutes)
- Jacob Manley, who is my co-alumni from Shenandoah University’s Graduate Certificate in PAM. He received his physical therapy degree there as well.
- Don’t Break A Leg podcast featuring health and wellness for the performing arts. Many episodes with pertinent information. One of their episodes features a physical therapist who sees circus performers – Emily Scherb‘s practice is fascinating. She also has a circus vocabulary page on her website.
- Rose Schmieg, physical therapist and athletic trainer interviewed for an episode of the Don’t Break A Leg podcast (about 1 hour). Director of the Shenandoah University PAM program and one of my mentors. She talks about the Graduate Certificate in PAM curriculum for those who are curious about the two-year part-time course.
- IADMS has a series of webinars, the most comprehensive (so far) being the one on mental wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Beyond the Practice Room podcast, by Janice Ying and Kayleigh Miller. It’s a podcast that “bridge[s] the gap between music and medicine”. Highlights include their first episode about their respective journeys to musician wellness, and their third episode giving the audience some direction on getting started with musician health.
- The British Journal of Sports Medicine podcast featured Dr. Jeremy Stanek from Stanford University. Like me, he is a physiatrist who found his way into PAM because he is a musician (but unlike me: he studied college-level, pre-professional music school and has professional experience, while I just pretend that I went to college for it).
