Lifetime Achievement Award - 2006 Richard M. Bachrach, D.O (Deceased)

Richard M Bachrach, D.O., FAOASM, President and Medical Director of the Center for Sports and Osteopathic Medicine, was a full term 10 pound baby born on October 10, 1929 in his parent's home on East 96th Street in Manhattan. He accompanied his parents in their move to the upper West Side two years later.
There, in due time, he attended PS 166 and then Joan of Arc junior high school. Some years later after being graduated, in succession, from the Bronx High School of Science, the University of Oklahoma and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (where he also served a rotating internship), he joined his father, David, in the practice of general osteopathic medicine. Through Dr. David, whose practice included many major theatrical and motion picture actors, writers and directors, Dr. Richard was introduced to the world of show-biz medicine. In particular, in part because they were the most impecunious of performers, and certainly because they were the most resistant to treatment, Dr. Richard wound up taking care of the dancers, learning sports medicine the hard way. He immersed himself in the dance world, becoming one of the pioneers in the newly developing field of dance medicine. He became ex-officio company physician to the cast of "West Side Story."

He continued in a similar capacity with many Broadway musical casts. He worked with N.Y. City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre dancers, as well as with numerous modern dance companies, including Martha Graham. In 1957, Jerome Robbins asked him to accompany his Ballets U.S.A. to the first Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, Italy. There, whereby hangs many another tale, he served as company physician to that group and to John Butler's company.

In 1965, Robert Joffrey asked him to be attending physician to the City Center Joffrey Ballet. He gleefully accepted and served as such for more than ten years, including a tour of the Soviet Union in 1974. He subsequently served as a consultant to many ballet and modern dance companies and schools. He was the founder and director of the defunct-not-for-profit-or-anything-else Center for Dance Medicine.

Dr. Richard M. Bachrach is the president and medical director of the Center for Sports and Osteopathic Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Osteopathic Academy of Sports Medicine, the American Osteopathic Academy of Pain Management & Sclerotherapy, the American Medical Academy of Medical Acupuncture and the American Back Society. He is a member of the American Association of Orthopedic Medicine, the American College of Sports Medicine, the American Academy of Osteopathy, the American Osteopathic Association, American Medical Association and all local, county and state osteopathic and medical societies. He is licensed to practice medicine and surgery in New York, Pennsylvania and Montana.

His scientific papers have appeared in many medical textbooks and journals and he has lectured on dance medicine and back pain in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Amsterdam and Brazil.