Biographies

UCSM Staff

Dr. Harvey Pasternak has worked in the sporting community for his entire professional career with special interest in hockey. While acting as team physician with the Newmarket Saints AHL Hockey Club (then the farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 80’s) he pioneered the novel concept of sending a note to the coach and GM of the visiting team when suspected the possibility of a concussion.  At that time it was enough to cause several calls to the Saints management questioning what their team doctor thought he was doing. Things have certainly progressed.

Drew Laskoski, Certified Athletic Therapist has been involved with hockey at the junior “A & B” levels for the past 20 years. In his career, he has had to deal with multiple concussions to his athletes every year making decisions on removal from games, immediate and long term management and with input from Dr. Pasternak, decisions on return to play strategies.

Upper Canada Sports Medicine has signed an agreement with the providers of the Impact Concussion Software in Canada to do baseline and post concussion testing. There is a cost for this online testing and not all teams may have the resources to havetheir players tested. Fortunately, there is a tool that was created by a coalition of Neurosurgeons from around the sporting world.  Dr. Karen Johnston, a Canadian neurosurgeon was one of the key doctors involved in the creation of the Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT) and the subsequent SCAT II released in 2008.  They recognized Athletic Therapists and Sport Physiotherapists as being qualified to administer their creation. Guidelines for referral to a supervising physician were also created.  The Sport Concussion Assessment Tool (SCAT II) can be used as a baseline test as well as a follow-up tool after a suspected concussion has occurred.

On Site Physician:

• Athletic Therapists
• Physiotherapists
• Massage Therapists

Physician:

• Dr. Harvey Pasternak M.D.

Athletic Therapists:

• Drew Laskoski CAT (C), B.Sc.,KIN,Dipl3ap.SIM
  drew.laskoski@bellnet.net
• Amber Caughill CAT(C), BSc KIN   

Physiotherapists:

• Ken Guo, BHScPT, MSc, MB, CAFCI, Cert MDT, MCPA
• Christine Foch PT, Matrix Repatterning Specialist
  

Massage Therapists:

• Mike Grafstein CAT(C), SMT(C)