About Cindy Chang, MD

Cindy J. Chang, MD, served as head team physician for Cal's 27 athletic teams from 1995 to 2008. In Jan 2008 she stepped away as head team physician in order to prioritize her family and pursue other interests, including serving her local community. She continued to work at UC-Berkeley part-time as a sports medicine specialist, and a consultant and team physician for the Cal intercollegiate athletes.
Dr. Chang returned to academia in March of 2015, when she joined the faculty of UCSF as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Departments of Orthopaedics and Family & Community Medicine, specializing in the sports medicine care of children and adults. She is recognized as one of the leading primary care sports medicine physicians in the country.

Dr. Chang actively serves on the California Interscholastic Federation’s Sports Medicine Advisory Committee (SMAC) and is also on the SMAC for the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Prior to coming to Cal, she was an assistant team physician for Ohio State and an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine at OSU's College of Medicine.

Dr. Chang has published articles and contributed to textbooks in sports medicine, and is frequently asked to present at national and international medical conferences. She was an elected four-year member of the Board of Directors for the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), one the largest organizations of primary care sports medicine physicians in the world. Dr. Chang later served as President in 2011-2012. She is also a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).

In addition, Dr Chang worked at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs and was part of the USA medical team for the Winter Paralympic Games in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 and in Salt Lake City in 2002. She served as Chief Medical Officer for the USA delegation at the 2007 Parapan Am Games in Rio de Janeiro, the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, and most recently the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Dr. Chang has remained actively involved in the education of medical students, residents and fellows. She was the 2003 recipient of the AMSSM Founders Award, given to a sports medicine physician who demonstrates outstanding professional achievement and service to the community. She was also selected to receive the 2013 Dr. Ernst Jokl Sports Medicine Award, given annually to an individual for his/her contributions to the growth and development of sport medicine through practice and/or scholarly activity. Past award recipients have included Sir Roger Bannister, Dr. Jimmy Andrews, and Dr. Eric Heiden. In 2016, Dr. Chang received the NATA's Jack Weakley Award of Distinction, which honors one individual each year for a lifetime of outstanding contributions that directly impact health care in the area of sports medicine and are of major and lasting importance.

Dr. Chang attended The Ohio State University for her undergraduate and medical school education, and then completed her residency in Family Medicine at UCLA before returning to OSU for her fellowship in Sports Medicine.

Dr. Chang will be seeing patients in the East Bay and in San Francisco, and will continue her role at Cal as one of the team physicians. She serves as Co-Director of the UCSF-Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland Sports Concussion Program.