The Pacific Northwest is typically an active community. We enjoy the beautiful outdoors on the weekends, participate in community 5K walks and runs, and are involved in family activities that take us out into the beauty of nature. Along with this active lifestyle often come aches and pains that may require a visit to your doctor.
You may have simply over done it on the trampoline with the kids or may be facing a repetitive use injury from training for an upcoming race. Whatever the cause, there is a quick, easy and injury specific solution to address your specific needs: the Sports Medicine doctors at Olympia Orthopaedics Associates. Dr. Leyen Vu has been seeing Sports Medicine patients at Oly Ortho for the last two years and is as competent as he is popular. When seeing Dr. Vu, patients are seen quickly, assessed by trained injury specialists, and treated with the most up-to-date techniques in the field. Dr. Vu is backed by the multi-specialty group of surgeons and orthopaedic specialists and provides thourough assessments and referrals, as needed, to specialists throughout the Oly Ortho team.
The busy Dr. Vu is now getting a little help. Dr. Tracy Hamblin is joining Oly Ortho, offering a second dedicated Sports Medicine physician to assess patient injuries and provide care for non-surgical musculoskeletal injuries and conditions.
Dr. Hamblin brings extensive training to Olympia Orthopaedics Associates. Born and raised in Utah, Dr. Hamblin’s undergraduate work was done at the University of Utah in Biomedical Engineering. “I always thought when I was a kid that I’d grow up to be a doctor, but I just wasn’t ready when I finished my undergrad work,” she explains. Not wanting to jump into medical school just yet, she enrolled in graduate school at Syracuse University where she earned a masters in Biomedical Engineering.
It wasn’t long, though, until she realized medicine really was her calling. “It was my first semester of grad school,” Dr. Hamblin recalls, “when I realized I was ready to go to medical school.” After two years at Syracuse, earning her degree, she moved back to her home-state of Utah, enrolling in University of Utah Medical School. She was happy to be back in the west and stayed in Utah for her residency in Family Medicine.
While back in Utah, she met Dr. Vu who was completing his Sports Medicine work at the University of Utah. “We became good friends. We did our residencies in family medicine but we both had a passion for sports medicine,” says Dr. Hamblin.
At professional conferences throughout the next year the two continued to cross paths while Dr. Hamblin completed her fellowship at the John Peter Smith Sports Medicine program in Fort Worth, Texas. She looked again to her friend Dr. Vu for guidance upon completion of her studies for advice on where she should take her medical practice that would allow her to focus on her specialized training in Sports Medicine.
The timing was perfect. Oly Ortho’s Sports Medicine services were expanding and Dr. Hamblin was a perfect fit both for her skills and her great working relationship with Dr. Vu. “I really wanted to find a job where I could fully use my sports medicine training to help patients live healthy lives,” she explains. “I also really wanted to use my unique skills, developed during my fellowship, for fluoroscopic injections to aid patient healing and not all clinics offer that service. Olympia Orthopaedics Associates was excited about my skills and how they could impact patient care.”
Fluoroscopic injections are X-ray guided injections aimed at very specific areas within a joint. By using small amounts of contrast dye injected into the joint, along with a live X-ray image, Dr. Hamblin is able to pinpoint an injection, directing medications accurately to reduce pain and helping diagnose injury.
Dr. Hamblin is excited to join the Oly Orth team. “The opportunity to be around so many Ortho docs will be great. The learning opportunities will be tremendous, plus I’ll be able to use the skills learned in my fellowship on a daily basis. But the most exciting is that this position is 100% Sports Medicine related. It is my passion and I never tire of seeing patients with injuries and helping them get back to an active lifestyle.”
In addition to her clinic work, Dr. Hamblin will be working with local colleges and high schools ensuring athletes are healthy and ready to play. “I love working with the students, seeing them grow as athletes throughout the season and helping them through any injury challenges.”
Working with student athletes will be second nature to Dr. Hamblin as she was a competitive gymnast for more than ten years and remembers working through injuries well. She continues with an active lifestyle, completing at least one triathlon a year since 2007. “I’m not out there to win the race, but simply to finish. It feels good to finish – to accomplish my goal. That’s what keeps me coming back to races each year.”
Dr. Hamblin’s personal focus on staying healthy and active is not only important in her own life, but something she passes on to patients. “Olympia Orthopaedic’s motto is to get your ‘Life in Motion.’ I always try to live my life as an example for my patients – showing them that staying healthy and in motion leads to a happy life.”
Visit Dr. Hamblin at Olympia Orthopaedic Associate’s Westside Clinic, located at 3901 Capital Mall Dr. SW in Olympia starting September 2. Call for appointments. 360-786-8990.
