Monterey doctor headed to 2018 Winter Olympics

Doctor Peter Gerbino’s got an impressive resume — undergraduate and master’s degrees from Stanford University, a medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh — and he’s adding one more credential, the figure skating team doctor for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Like most careers, breaking into the Olympics scene is about who you know and who knows you.

“Everybody on the team knows me and I know everybody on the team,” Gerbino said. “I’ve taken care of these guys since they were juniors.”

As a member of the United States Olympics Team, he will also assist athletes from other Winter Olympic sports while living and working in the Olympic Village. Gerbino is a member of the medical staff of both Monterey Peninsula Surgery Center and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.

The selection process to work at the Olympics is highly competitive, and requires special training as a team physician, experience working at an Olympic Training Center and passing a federal background check. To care for a specific team, the doctor must then be selected by the national team governing body, the athletes, the coaches and the representatives from the US Olympic Medical Team. Gerbino was selected from 29 eligible doctors working with US Figure Skating.

What mattered the most though, Gerbino said, are the personal relationships and good work.

“That’s how you just move through the system, that the skaters know you, you know the skaters, and you get to know their injuries and what’s good and what’s bad, and over time, it just works out,” Gerbino said.

Locally, he is the doctor for the Monterey Bay Derby Dames, the Seaside High School football team and many local dancers. He has published more than 45 papers and chapters on sports medicine topics.

The US Figure Skating National Championship will be held in San Jose in January. Top skaters will be selected to represent the United States at the conclusion of the event. Gerbino will be in attendance to help skaters perform at their highest level.