A Calling for Healing

It’s a November night in Levien Gymnasium, women’s basketball versus Florida Gulf Coast University, and forward Perri Page ’26 is charging down the court alone on a fast break. An opponent catches Page just as she goes for a layup, knocking her in mid-air. Milliseconds pass. While most people in the arena are focused on the basket, Dr. David Trofa ’07 — head team physician for Columbia Athletics — has his eyes on the floor where the two players will land.

“This is when I’m the most concerned,” Trofa says, craning for a sightline from his seat behind the Lions bench. “They get hit from behind and land awkwardly — that’s when they twist their knee.”

Thankfully, Page landed well (albeit fouled; she went on to make both free throws). Trofa, meanwhile, leans back again and glances at the game clock. Less than six minutes to go. He has already noted a number of breath-holding moments: players careening out of bounds, players crashing into the folding chairs on the sidelines, cheerleaders performing lifts and other tricks. Technically he is not responsible for the last, but he says he’d be out there in a heartbeat were injury to happen. Who he is responsible for are the roughly 900 athletes across 31 teams that make up Columbia’s vast varsity system.

Trofa, an orthopedic sports medicine surgeon specializing in knees and shoulders, has been in his role since July 2023, but he’s had plenty of experience being a team physician. His résumé includes stints with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and MiLB’s Charlotte Knights, and he assists the New York Yankees’ head team physician, Dr. Christopher Ahmad SEAS’90.

“What initially attracted me [to this work] was the intricacies of minimally invasive surgeries,” he says. “I was blessed to have tremendous mentors, whom I now call my partners, who amazed me with their ability to recreate anatomy.”

Over time, however, he realized the real draw was working with and getting to know the athletes themselves. “Of course, nobody wants to have pain or be sidelined from an injury,” he says. “But athletes aren’t just looking to feel better — they’re looking to perform at a higher level. And being around people with that constant motivation to improve and pursue excellence drives me. It makes this not a job at all. It’s a calling, and an unbelievably special privilege.”

One notable difference between Trofa’s work in the pros and Columbia is the range of sports under his aegis. Lions endure punishing plays on the gridiron, get tangled up on soccer fields and push endurance to the limit on cross country runs — to name just a few ways that college competitors test their bodies. To care for them all, Trofa has assembled a treatment team that includes three other doctors with complementary expertise, Drs. Thomas Bottiglieri, Morgan Busko and Michael Saulle. (Busko was recruited for track and field alone, to handle the chronic overuse injuries that are endemic to the sport.) Trofa also works closely with nine athletics trainers who attend to individual teams. “They are our eyes and ears on a daily basis when we’re not there,” he says.

Trofa knows what it’s like to be an athlete on the examining table. He was an aspiring varsity wrestler when he came to Columbia, and had dislocated both shoulders in his last high school match (“a rare injury,” he says, “usually it’s just one”). He thought he was sufficiently rehabilitated to give it a go — but when he tried out as a walk-on, he promptly re-dislocated both.

Dr. William N. Levine, Trofa’s predecessor as head team physician, treated him and recommended surgery. “I immediately said, ‘Nope, that sounds terrible; I just can’t be an athlete anymore.’” Trofa laughs. (About a decade and many repeat injuries later, Trofa finally acquiesced to surgery; Levine wielded the scalpel.)

Though he always knew he wanted to be a doctor, Trofa credits his experience, and wanting to ensure others don’t repeat his mistake, as reasons he pursued orthopedics. “Athletes are heartbroken when they’re forced to medically retire or miss a single season, even a single game,” he says. “I’m able to put myself in their shoes; it makes it easier to empathize with them.”

Trofa graduated from Tufts University School of Medicine and did his residency in orthopedic surgery at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where Levine became a close mentor. A fellowship in sports medicine followed at OrthoCarolina in Charlotte, N.C. Once back in New York, he cared for athletes at Manhattan College for four years before taking the Columbia role.

Levine, who was in the position for 25 years, emphasizes Trofa’s commitment. “The best team physicians, like Dr. Trofa, have an undying, visceral passion for sports medicine and for the care of student athletes.” The role means you’re always on call, he says — and that’s for any health reason, not just an orthopedic problem. “It’s an all-encompassing job.”

He adds that he immediately recognized Trofa’s intensity when he encountered him as a fourth-year medical student. “And that intensity has been his approach to success in becoming a master of his craft. Nobody is going to outwork him, nobody is going to out-prepare him, nobody is going to out-study him. He is the guy you want in your corner, and that’s what our student athletes deserve and what our Columbia athletics community wants.”

Trofa does treat non-Lion patients, part of a weekly routine that has him shuttling to hospitals and clinics throughout the New York metro area and Westchester. Otherwise, he is at Dodge Fitness Center several times a week for “training room,” when athletes come to be evaluated for injuries. He attends every football game, and he or a medical team member cover every home basketball game, men’s and women’s. He sees athletes for surgery, post-op and rehabilitation, and he’s answering those phone calls at all hours. (He also carves out time for research; ACL reconstruction is a primary focus.)

Asked about the challenges of such a rigorous schedule, Trofa is seemingly nonplussed. “You get used to it,” he says, adding that he couldn’t do it without his wife’s support. They have a 1-year-old son.

In Levien Gym that November night, Trofa shares that if he’s not seated courtside, he snags a seat in the uppermost bleachers where the bird’s-eye view gives him better perspective on the players’ movements. He notes that already this year he’s performed surgery on four of the women’s basketballers, with another pending; meanwhile, the clock ticks down. “You really have to watch what’s happening,” he says. “They play hard to the last second, even when they’ve already won.” He references a recent season-ending injury “that happened in the last two minutes of a game. Devastating.”

After the buzzer, Trofa will go to the training room for last checks. “After two years, you really get to know the student-athletes, which makes the experience more meaningful and enjoyable,” he says. “Caring for athletes is always special, but it’s different when it’s your alma mater. This is personal.”