Shaped by their Notre Dame education, physicians who were once student athletes themselves now care for some of the same teams on which they played. As they guide today’s players to health, these doctors bring a unique understanding of what it takes to balance demanding academic workloads with competitive athletic schedules.
In the 1979 Cotton Bowl Classic, Joe Montana’s body temperature dipped to 96 degrees. As the icy conditions in Dallas dropped to 22 degrees and the wind gushed up to 30 mph, Montana was battling hypothermia. Team orthopaedic physician Dr. Les Bodnar warmed his body with chicken soup and covered him with warm blankets. He recovered and got back in the game. Notre Dame came from behind to win 35—34, against the Houston Cougars.
Today, the orthopedic physicians of South Bend Orthopaedics continue the vital work of their founders, Dr. Bodnar and Dr. Brian Boyer, in supporting Notre Dame student athletes in all varsity and non-varsity sports from football, basketball, hockey, volleyball and baseball to golf, diving, fencing, rugby and other sports. For over 75 years, these experienced orthopedic physicians—many of them Notre Dame alumni—have cared for student athletes as well as the local community.
An education that endures
Each physician who is an alumnus is proud of the formative role their Notre Dame education played in their career and approach to care. Led by the vision of Fr. Moreau who wrote, “The mind will not be cultivated at the expense of the heart,” Notre Dame educates the whole person—mind, body and spirit. The rigorous intellectual training develops critical thinking; the moral and spiritual formation cultivates character, compassion and faith, and the development of physical and emotional well-being supports each student’s health and resilience. Physicians who were student athletes at Notre Dame remember how they learned to balance demanding academic learning with competitive collegiate athletics, community service and the life of faith in their residence halls.