Cindy J. Chang, MD
Clinical Professor, Primary Care Sports Medicine, Departments of Orthopaedics and Family & Community Medicine, University of California, San Francisco
Dr. Chang specializes in the sports medicine care of children and adults, preventing, diagnosing, and treating injuries and illnesses related to exercise and sports participation.
She serves as chair of the California Interscholastic Federation’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, and is also on the Sports Medicine Advisory Committee for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). She is a founder and co-chair of the California Concussion Coalition, and a board member of Racing Hearts, a non-profit that increases awareness of and improves access to AEDs in communities. Chang was an elected four-year member of the Board of Directors for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), one the largest organizations of primary care sports medicine physicians in the world. She later served as its President in 2011-2012. She is also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
Chang has worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and was part of the USA medical team for the Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 and in Salt Lake City in 2002. She served as Chief Medical Officer for the USA delegation at the 2007 Parapan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, and most recently the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
She was the 2003 recipient of the AMSSM Founders Award, given to a sports medicine physician who demonstrates outstanding professional achievement and service to the community. She was also selected to receive the 2013 Dr. Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award, given annually to an individual for his/her contributions to the growth and development of sport medicine through practice and/or scholarly activity. Past award recipients have included Sir Roger Bannister, Dr. Jimmy Andrews, and Dr. Eric Heiden. Most recently, Chang has been honored with the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Jack Weakley Award of Distinction for 2016.
Chang attended The Ohio State University for her undergraduate and medical school education, and then completed her residency in Family Medicine at UCLA before returning to OSU for her fellowship in Sports Medicine. She was on faculty at OSU in the Department of Family Medicine, serving as Assistant Residency Director and Assistant Team Physician for the OSU Buckeyes until moving back to California to serve as the Head Team Physician for Cal’s 27 athletic teams from 1995 to 2008.
Chang continues her role at Cal as a team physician, volunteers as the team physician at Berkeley High School, and frequently speaks to community groups, schools, club teams, and the media on a wide range of topics affecting the health and safety of our young athletes.
