Brian Krabak always knew he’d go into medicine. His love of sports and the mechanics of the body inspired him to take up diving and soccer in high school and eventually pre-med and bio-engineering in college. This February, Krabak will be taking his love for athletics and medicine to the international stage: the Winter Olympics.

“There’s an excitement that goes along with being a part of something this big. I personally love the diversity and culture and excitement of being at such an international event,” Krabak said. “For me, it’s an honor to provide medical care in that setting. As a sports-medicine physician, you want to help the everyday person and the professional.”

In less than three weeks, Krabak will be heading north to Vancouver to serve as a sports-medicine physician in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. Once in Vancouver, he will be stationed at the sports clinic in the athlete village, tending to patients injured during the daytime events. Krabak is an associate professor and non-surgical-sports-medicine specialist at the UW Medical Center.

He started as an event physician in 1996 at the track and field Para-Olympics while he was still in residency. Since then, he has also aided in the Salt Lake Olympic Games and the aquatic portion of the Athens Olympics. He was selected for the winter games after a rigorous application process.

Krabak said that the Vancouver Olympics, while an incredible honor, were also a bittersweet opportunity.

“There’s a certain number of people you’re going to see that have sustained a worse enough injury that their Olympic dream is over, and you have to tell them that,” Krabak said. “And then there are others who might have minor injuries and they can continue, so we have to tell them how to safely do that.”

The Winter Olympics in particular can result in traumatic and sometimes permanent injuries because of the intensity of the sports. Alpine skiing, for instance, can result in ligaments tears, fractures and concussions. Most athletes must return from an injury within 24 hours to compete.

“Over time, you get to learn about the athletes themselves,” Krabak said. “If somebody sustains a significant fracture and you have to tell them, ‘I know you just spent 10 years of your life training, but you can’t compete,’ that can be very emotional to watch. But if we’ve done our job correctly, then we’re keeping people safe.”

Krabak explained that his profession is about more than just treatment and recovery. To properly doctor athletes, he must understand their sports.

“You have to understand the sport to understand the stresses that will require them to go back,” he said. “Someone who’s skiing downhill is very different than someone who’s doing cross-country,”

Krabak’s involvement in the Olympics will not be all that different from his work here at the UW. Having collaborated with high-caliber athletes at the university, the main difference is the setting.

“You don’t always know the athletes’ backgrounds, and that’s where it becomes essential to ask the right questions in regards to the athletes and the stresses that are going on,” Krabak said. “Working the Olympics is a fun, multicultural experience, because different countries have different philosophies on how you manage an injury.”

Reach reporter Celina Kareiva at news@dailyuw.com.