The Issam M. Fares Equine Sports Medicine Program

Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University stands in the forefront of equine sports medicine through its Issam M. Fares Equine Sports Medicine Program, a series available to the public for its equine athletes. The presence of a specialized program in sports medicine on the Tufts' campus brings students into close contact with performance horses. At the Hospital for Large Animals, veterinary personnel and state-of-the-art equipment work to fulfill the training, rehabilitative, and diagnostic needs of their equine patients.

The sports medicine program has been designed by scientists, clinicians, engineers, and others to provide solutions to exercise-related problems in horses. The program employs a team approach that is now common in human sports medicine but still fairly new to equine athletic arena. Proper and timely evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment are being applied to the equine athlete as they are to the human athlete. In both cases, injuries and performance problems can undermine promising and profitable careers.

For students whose primary veterinary interest is in the equine athlete, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University provides a variety of experiences in clinical and research settings.

The complementary worlds of clinic and laboratory are together the source of the new techniques, insight, and information. The Tufts student enjoys all the benefits of both the real and the ideal. He or she works with horses, trainers, and owners through the sports medicine program, and refines his or her skills in the basic sciences among clinical faculty equipped with the most modern analytical equipment available.