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Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾¡¯s expertise in performing arts medicine ¡ª a specialty focused on preventing and treating medical issues related to performing ¡ª took center stage in a recent profile in Ravinia Magazine, ¡°.¡±&²Ô²ú²õ±è;

Ravinia Festival, located in Highland Park, Ill., is the longest-running outdoor music festival in North America. It hosts more than 100 performances every summer for approximately 400,000 attendees. 

For the past 30 years, Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾ has served as Ravinia Festival¡¯s on-call performing arts medicine partner, providing medical care for both performing artists and stage crew members.

¡°Our job for Ravinia Festival is to keep everyone up and running from a medical perspective, always mindful of performers¡¯ overall health, so they can deliver memorable experiences for patrons,¡± said , director of Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾¡¯s performing arts medicine program.

To learn more about Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾¡¯s longstanding collaboration with Ravinia Festival, read the  or enjoy a few excerpts from the story below: 

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¡°Artists can contact us anytime and immediately access our on-call doctor,¡± said Dr. Reese. ¡°If a performer forgets a medication or needs physical therapy to help minimize pain, we focus on coordinating their medical care so they can focus on preparing for their performance.¡±

Many Ravinia Festival artists travel from around the country and the world for a single concert or a short run of performances. As a result, Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾¡¯s medical care often is geared toward triaging acute needs expeditiously on the day of a performance, versus offering longer-term treatments for the duration of an extended show run.

For example, physiatrists on call at Ravinia Festival can assist with interventions for pain or inflammation; prescribe medications; coordinate care with an artist¡¯s regular doctor at home; and provide onsite evaluations and therapy for common performance-related issues.

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¡°We¡¯re really grateful for Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾, and artists treated over the years have been grateful as well,¡± said Erik Soderstrom, Ravinia¡¯s senior director of programming. ¡°The on-call medical care is incredibly important to our success and to maintaining a place that both artists and our audience want to come to.¡±

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¡°Our physicians love having the opportunity to work with Ravinia Festival,¡± said Dr. Reese. ¡°It¡¯s a unique experience to be on call to ensure these top performers are supported ¡ª and also to play a role in supporting the arts.¡±

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Serving as Ravinia Festival¡¯s on-call medical partner is one of many roles of Shirley Ryan Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵÍøÕ¾¡¯s robust performing arts medicine program.

¡°Our program is unique in both the depth of our care and the breadth of the people and conditions we treat,¡± said Dr. Reese. ¡°We see amateurs as well as professionals, young artists as well as mature artists. We treat acute focal pain episodes as well as large-scale, complex issues. We care for dancers, musicians, vocalists, actors, crew and production members, treating nearly the entire neuromusculoskeletal system, from jaw to toe!¡±

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¡°All too often, artists are told, 'Rest. Take time off.' This isn¡¯t realistic and does not acknowledge their mental health, passion, drive and love for their art form,¡± said Dr. Reese. ¡°That¡¯s why our whole concept is focused on keeping performers performing.¡±