Dr. Prem Ramkumar was Recently Featured in Becker’s SpineReview for Pioneering Athlete-Centered Performance Model

Becker’s Spine has spotlighted Prem Ramkumar, MD, Medical Director of Technology and Clinical Innovation and hip/knee surgeon at Commons Clinic, and Scot Prohaska, a sports performance consultant, for their groundbreaking approach to caring for elite athletes following major injury.

The article highlights Dr. Ramkumar’s innovative partnership with renowned sports performance consultant Scot Prohaska. Their collaboration is reshaping expectations around recovery, performance, and long-term joint health in elite athletes.

One Stop Shop for Elite Athletes:

Dr. Ramkumar and Mr. Prohaska’s partnership began, unexpectedly, from a bad hip. As a former elite athlets. Mr. Prohaska realized that after years of training and conditioning – putting his hip through the paces – it was beginning to fail. He wanted an experienced orthopedic surgeon who understood biomechanics, sequencing and the demands of elite performance. His intensive search led to Dr. Prem Ramkumar.

“When we met, it was clear right away we shared the same philosophy,” Mr. Prohaska said. “He wasn’t just talking about fixing a joint. He was talking about setting me up to return highly functioning — not just functional.”

Just twelve days after surgery, Mr. Prohaska’s recovery stunned his colleagues and set the foundation for a collaborative model grounded in precision surgery, high-performance coaching, and advanced rehabilitation.

A New Model for High-Performance Recovery in Athletes:

For years, athletes recovering from significant injuries have faced a fragmented path: surgery in one place, rehab somewhere else, performance coaching elsewhere,  often with little communication between providers. For Dr. Ramkumar and Mr. Prohaska, that traditional model never made sense. They decided to create a new model. At the core of the Ramkumar–Prohaska model is a constant dialogue between “offense” and “defense.”

  • Offense: Prohaska pushes to rebuild athletic performance, movement sequencing, and full-body coordination.
  • Defense: Dr. Ramkumar protects the repair, ensuring healthy progression with no setbacks.

This real-time communication ensures rehabilitation is not simply about returning to everyday function — it’s about rebuilding the athlete’s entire kinetic chain to prevent reinjury and improve long-term performance.

“Athletes aren’t injured because one joint failed,” Mr. Prohaska said. “It’s how their body moves as a system. When we retrain the entire pattern — not just the hip or knee, that’s when transformation happens.”

Another hallmark of their program: performance training never stops.

Even when one joint is healing, the rest of the athlete’s body continues to be strengthened, helping maintain confidence and momentum during rehab — a major psychological advantage for elite competitors.

A Growing Referral Center for Elite Athletes and Complex Orthopedic Cases:

Dr. Ramkumar and Mr. Prohaska’s approach has quickly drawn national attention. Athletes from the NHL, USA Water Polo, Major League Soccer, and other professional organizations now seek them out not only for primary care but also for second, third, and even fourth opinions after suboptimal outcomes elsewhere.

“With Scot Prohaska, athletes see the entire pathway clearly,  from surgery to high-speed, game-ready performance,” Dr. Ramkumar said. “That specificity builds trust for the athlete and for their teams.”

Shaping the Future of Performance-Driven Orthopedics:

As highlighted by Becker’s SpineReview, Dr. Ramkumar believes this integrated model is the direction orthopedics must move: surgeons, performance specialists, and sport-specific metrics working as one coordinated team.

“Without that connection, recovery becomes choppy and confidence breaks down,” he said. “Our goal is to build the model we wish existed across the industry.”

Ultimately, the expectation — for both surgeon and performance coach — is simple:

“You come back better than you were before,” Mr. Prohaska said.

You can read the entire article in Becker’s SpineReview here:  The orthopedic-performance duo improving athlete outcomes