MALIBU, Calif. - Gary Green, MD, team physician for Pepperdine Athletics, was appointed as the Medical Director for Major League Baseball, the Office of the Commissioner recently announced.
Dr. Green, who also works part time at Pepperdine's Student Health Center, has served as a consultant to Major League Baseball on anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing substances since 2003.
"I'm looking forward to my new role with Major League Baseball after having spent the last seven years advising them on issues regarding performance-enhancing drugs," Green said. "My main focus will be on issues relating to the health and safety of the players. Although the issues are much more complicated at the professional level, athletes are still patients first. Regardless of whether it is a Pepperdine student-athlete or a professional player, you still have to practice good medical principles."
As Medical Director, Dr. Green will evaluate Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Programs at the Major and Minor League levels and will make recommendations on updates to the programs. He also will serve as the Office of the Commissioner's primary liaison to club physicians and certified athletic trainers. Dr. Green will assist in the development of educational programs and materials and will advise on all issues related to the health and safety of MLB personnel.
"Dr. Green has been an outstanding asset to Major League Baseball as a consultant, and we are pleased that this expanded role will provide him an opportunity to make significant contributions to our game," said Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig.
Dr. Green, who joined the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Department of Family Medicine in 1988, currently serves as a clinical professor in the Division of Sports Medicine at The David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Green has researched performance-enhancing drug use in athletics through the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory. For five years, he chaired the NCAA Committee on drug testing and drug education. Dr. Green, who is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Sports Medicine, is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the American College of Sports Medicine. He also has a private medical practice, the Pacific Palisades Medical Group, in California.
Dr. Green's relationship with Pepperdine dates back to 1997 and he's been more than impressed with the services provided by athletic training and at the Student Health Center.
"Although Pepperdine is a small school, I have been so impressed with the athletic training staff that I have been privileged to have worked with these past 13 years," Green said. "They work so hard and provide consistently excellent care and have made my job so much easier. They are some of the best athletic trainers that I've been able to work with.
"The same is true at the Student Health Center. Although they operate in a very small facility, I have been amazed at the level of care they are able to provide. It has been such a pleasure working with the staff over there. The Pepperdine students are fortunate to have such dedicated people taking care of them."
Dr. Green lives in Malibu and has two daughters.
Information from Major League Baseball was used in this release.
