Podcast Interview With Dr. Tina Atkinson, PWHL Chief Medical Officer
Learn more about what goes into managing medical care for a pro women's hockey league in this interview on the first episode of TIG's newest podcast segment, brought to you by the team behind "Purple Posts."
If you couldn’t get enough audio content from The Ice Garden, we have a new podcast segment! Purple Posts People is an interview-focused spinoff of Purple Posts, TIG’s offbeat women’s hockey history podcast. Rather than detailed stories from the sport’s past, these episodes are all about getting to know interesting people doing unique jobs in the wide world of women’s hockey, brought to you by the same team behind the rest of The Ice Garden Podcast Network’s great offerings.
On the first episode of Purple Posts People, host LJ speaks with Dr. Tina Atkinson, the PWHL’s Chief Medical Officer. With over two decades of experience in sports medicine across hockey and beyond, Dr. Atkinson shares her expertise, discussing the work she and her team do to care for athletes’ physical and mental health, what makes sports medicine in hockey unique, and the challenges of managing medical systems for a league that spans eight cities across two countries. Read on for an excerpt from this interview.
The following interview excerpts have been lightly edited for clarity.
LJ Bachenheimer: First things first, what exactly does the Chief Medical Officer of the PWHL do?
Dr. Tina Atkinson: Originally, I was asked to help just as the league was announced in 2023. I helped to write the medical standards for the league. So that means, what kind of medical setup do we have for each team? Do we have paramedics and ambulances at the game? How many therapists, how many physicians, those types of things. And then I came on as the Chief Medical Officer, so I oversee all things medical. We have a unique structure to our league with one ownership group for all eight teams. So I help define the physicians and the therapists in each of the markets. We set some standards and protocols, we make sure everybody has certain qualifications… And then we get into oversight on all the injuries and making sure that they're getting good care. Communication with the teams, like we have a workers' compensation program, things like that. There are lots of other things that we do as well. I work with all of the medical personnel on each team to achieve different things, like different protocols or policies or types of initiatives that we want to do to help our female athletes.
LJB: Clearly, it sounds like you wear a lot of hats. How did you find your way into this role? What was your background before coming to work with the PWHL?
TA: I'm a sport and exercise medicine physician. I actually worked in emergency medicine for the first nine years of my career. I remember I volunteered to help cover the Women's World Hockey Championships that were held in Halifax in 2004. And I've covered lots of other sports and lots of other national and international games and championships. And hockey really has the most opportunity in Canada. There are lots of hockey teams to work with and get experience. So I helped to organize the Canada Games held in Halifax in 2011. And after that, the Halifax Mooseheads, the [men’s major junior league] team here in Halifax, asked me if I would like to join them as their team physician. I was the primary care team physician, meaning.. I would take care of the medical needs of the team, as well as any injuries, and make sure they have their flu shots, different things like that. I started with them in 2011 and worked really closely with the athletic therapist of that team. We were fortunate that we had a very good team. They won the Memorial Cup in 2013, so I got to experience that excitement, and I found that I really loved it. I also have three sons who played hockey, so I was a hockey mom for quite a while as well. And then, I started working with Hockey Canada in 2016, with the under-18 team, the development team, and then the senior team. I was with them up until 2023 when I started with the [PWHL].
LJB: What would you say is the coolest thing you've done as Chief Medical Officer?
TA: The coolest is getting to go to the home openers in season one. And then I was just in Vancouver, and unfortunately, I'm missing the Seattle one. It's very emotional; it really brings it home how important this is and how much it means to people. I've done a lot of cool things, but every time, it kind of gets to you, and it's emotional every time. So that's been a little bit unexpected. I think all of us staff talk about that, like how emotional it's been seeing how much it means to people, how much it means to the fans, to the players, to us.
LJB: What is a common misconception about your role, or sports medicine in hockey more broadly?
TA: I think what people don't know is that most of the time, you have to put your time in. [In hockey,] a lot of it is volunteer. You have to really enjoy it. It's not for everybody. I even know a lot of sports medicine doctors who don't necessarily enjoy the acute part of it, the sideline coverage. I really enjoy that. It gives me the passion for the rest of my work, it keeps me going. I'd say, right now, what people don't realize is that I spend most of my time on Teams meetings. It's not all like the Olympics or games, there's a lot of work that goes on in the background.
To hear more from Dr. Tina Atkinson, go listen to Purple Posts People on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you liked the show, subscribe to The Ice Garden Podcast Network, leave us a five-star review, and maybe tell your friends. Your support means the world to us and lets us keep doing cool things!
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