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Physician
MassGeneral Brigham/Spaulding Rehabilitation/Harvard Medical School PM&R Program
Kersten Schwanz MD is a sports medicine physiatrist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She completed her sports fellowship at Spaulding/Harvard Medical School. She is a proud triple Gopher who completed undergraduate, medical school, and PM&R residency training at the University of Minnesota, serving as chief resident. Her sports medicine practice is through Summit Orthopedics and she continues in resident and fellow education through the University of Minnesota.
She competed as a NCAA Division I rower, earning Big Ten accolades and was named "Heart of the Team". She transitioned from the water to the weight room and worked in Division I strength and conditioning at the University of Minnesota with a focus on return to performance. During her medical training, she coached rowing at the junior elite club and adaptive club levels. As a part of the Sports Performance and Adaptive Design Engineering (SPADE) team at the Minneapolis VAMC Research Center of Excellence, she holds a patent for an adaptive rowing seat which received MERIT grant funding.
Her clinical interests include performance athletics, para athletics, sports ultrasound, and any discussion regarding load management and return to performance. She joined the medical team for Minnesota Wind Chill professional ultimate frisbee in 2021 as team physician.
