Natalie Thom, MD

Sports medicine care built around each patient’s goals

Helping people stay active brings together Natalie Thom, M.D.’s personal and professional interests.

“I chose sports medicine because being active has always been an important part of my life and has shaped the way I think about health and wellness,” says Thom, who rowed on her college crew team and has since become an avid long-distance runner and marathoner. “Because of this, I can appreciate how being active can affect someone’s well-being, as well as the frustration that comes with injury.”

Thom is a primary care sports medicine physician in the orthopaedic department at VCU Health. She trained in family medicine before completing a sports medicine fellowship. Her practice at the William & Mary clinic serves students, faculty and the Williamsburg community.

She treats patients with sports injuries, overuse injuries and musculoskeletal conditions that affect their ability to exercise or participate in sports and other activities. Her work also includes injury prevention, safe rehabilitation and helping patients return to sports.

“When I see a patient, I try to understand their priorities and concerns so that I can develop a treatment plan with them that fits with their goals and lifestyle,” Thom says. “My overall goal is to help patients stay healthy and continue to do the things that they love.”

Her approach to sports medicine involves working alongside other health care professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, athletic trainers, orthopaedic surgeons and primary care providers.

Thom earned her medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine, completed her family medicine residency at Bayhealth Medical Center in Dover, Delaware and her sports medicine fellowship through Maine Dartmouth in Augusta, Maine. She has provided medical coverage for college and high school sports, road races and endurance events.

Her medical research has explored opioid use before and after orthopaedic surgery and treatment of strokes related to heart infections, as well as and the body’s inflammatory response to infections. She has also presented work on racial and language disparities in the designation of health care proxies (people authorized to make medical decisions on a patient’s behalf) and clinical cases at national sports medicine meetings. Her clinical interests include relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S) and running medicine. 

Advice to patients: “Keep an open mind. Being injured can be incredibly difficult and it is okay to feel down, frustrated or discouraged at first because this is a normal part of the process. However, an injury does not mean you have to give up the activities you love. The goal is to help you recover and safely return to doing what you enjoy. You can try to modify the activity or even discover something new that you’ve never tried. You may even find new goals to pursue and new ways to stay active in your journey.”

Outside of work, Dr. Thom enjoys staying active through running and hiking, exploring new places and spending quality time with family. After a day of adventure, she enjoys finding good food at a local restaurant and unwinding with friends and family.