Meet Elizabeth Matzkin, MD: Women’s Sports Medicine Surgeon
(From left to right) Megan Bobinski, PA-C, Giovanna Medina, MD, Elizabeth Matzkin, MD, and Natalie Lowenstein, Research Assistant, stand together on the Stonehill College football field.
Elizabeth Matzkin, MD is co-leader of Mass General Brigham Women’s Sports Medicine. She is also a sports medicine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital.
Dr. Matzkin is the team physician for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, U.S. Paralympics Soccer Team, and the U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team. She’s also the head team physician of Stonehill College.
Dr. Matzkin is also the head orthopedic surgeon for Boston Legacy FC in their inaugural season. With Kelly McInnis, DO, Dr. Matzkin leads the collaboration between Boston Legacy FC and Mass General Brigham to serve as the Official Medical Provider and Sports Medicine Partner for the 2026 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) season.
In this Q&A, Dr. Matzkin talks about her passion for women’s sports medicine and reflects on her work with female athletes at all levels.
Q: Why do we need women’s sports medicine?
Matzkin: In women’s sports medicine, we understand the risk factors specific to female athletes—which can be important in finding the best prevention or treatment plan.
For many women in athletics, physical injuries can be signs of an underlying problem. A bone stress injury or stress fracture might be a sign that a patient has an underlying nutrition and/or endocrine concern. Our job is to create a treatment plan that addresses some of the potential underlying problems in order to improve bone healing and prevent further injury or re-injury.
Our research has demonstrated sex-specific differences with regards to injury risk, injury prevention, and injury treatment. By understanding these differences, we can provide specialized care for female athletes, and work to prevent injuries and treat them to get more women back in the game.
For example, we know that ACL injuries occur more frequently in our female athletes. We also know that our female athletes do not return to the same level of sport as often as our male athletes after ACL reconstruction surgery. Through our research, we have looked at ways to both prevent ACL injuries in female athletes and ways to make their return to sport and risk of reinjury equivalent to male athletes.
Q: Your history as an athlete and your experience as mother to female athletes gives you a unique perspective on women’s sports medicine. How do these experiences inform your approach to patient care?
Matzkin: As a women’s sports medicine surgeon, I do my best to understand my patients’ goals and work with them so they can take part in the activities they love. Because I am an athlete—and the mother of three athletic daughters—I can really empathize with the strong desire to get back on the field, the track, the ice, or whatever their sport may be.
Over the course of my career, I’ve studied the sex-specific factors that influence the risk of injury, treatment decisions, recovery, and return to sport in all female athletes. And those experiences have helped me connect with many patients on a deeper level.
Q: Can you describe your work as team physician for the Boston Legacy, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, U.S. Paralympics Soccer Team, U.S. Women’s National Hockey Team and Stonehill College?
Matzkin: As a team physician, I am responsible for the coordination of medical care and treatment of all injuries of the athletes during practice and competition. In general, the risk of injury is higher during competition, but we also see many injuries during pre-season training as well as overuse injuries throughout the season. Each sport and each athlete requires individualized care. I help coordinate care for medical and orthopedic injuries as well as for physical therapy, sports psychology, nutrition, and even injury preventative education or programs.
Q: What are your goals for the partnership between Mass General Brigham Women’s Sports Medicine and Boston Legacy FC? How do you see your role as head orthopedic surgeon for the club influencing care?
My passion has been to work with female athletes. As an athlete myself in high school and college and mother to three athletic daughters, it’s important to me that we don’t just treat the injuries but focus on prevention and whole athlete care.
It used to be that caring for the female athlete was really reactive instead of proactive. We've learned a lot about how we can prevent injuries and how we can manage them better. We're also using more personalized care, looking at hormonal health, differences in biomechanics, and the psychological aspect of being an athlete.
All the innovation and expertise we’ve developed at Mass General Brigham Women’s Sports Medicine will be brought into our work with Boston Legacy FC. Caring for elite athletes is high stakes, as we want them to be their best, perform their best. But we also want to make sure they’re healthy on and off the pitch. Prevention, nutrition, sports psychology, physical therapy, and other disciplines all play a role.
As head orthopaedic surgeon, my role is actually to help them prevent injuries that would require surgery. But if the worst happens, I’m here to provide the athletes with the best, individualized surgical care and a comprehensive, tailored recovery plan to get them back on the field when it’s safe to do so. Preventing re-injury and coming back stronger are goals every athlete chases in the wake of a significant injury and our multidisciplinary team can help them do that.
Learn about Mass General Brigham Sports Medicine services
Q: How does your work with collegiate and elite athletes help other patients?
Matzkin: I am lucky to work with athletes of all levels: high school, collegiate, Olympians, professionals, and everyday recreational athletes—including weekend warriors, yogis, runners, tennis and pickleball enthusiasts, skiers, and social sports team participants. Every athlete is treated with the same goal in mind: to get them back to being active now and for the long term.
Q: What makes Mass General Brigham Women’s Sports Medicine different?
Matzkin: At Mass General Brigham, we offer comprehensive care that’s customized for every female athlete to meet their goals. Our multidisciplinary approach to sports medicine care means that we have a team of experts—including nutritionists, sports psychologists, physical therapists, endocrinologists, and more—collaborating to treat each patient according to their specific circumstances.
My colleagues and I have spent a lot of time understanding and researching sex differences in sports medicine. And we apply this work to ensure we can deliver the best possible treatment and rehabilitation plan for each patient.
