Meet Your Team

Meet the Lehigh Valley Health Network team dedicated to providing accelerated access to care and serving Lehigh Valley United athletes and families

Your Lehigh Valley Health Network Team is dedicated to providing accelerated access to superior care from the region’s largest and most experienced team of Sports Medicine Orthopedic Physicians. We are available on a 24/7 basis to facilitate any medical needs for Lehigh Valley United’s athletes and family members. Do not hesitate to contact your Care Coordinator and/or Relationship Manager to schedule an appointment or to answer any questions that you may have. The LVU family is part of our LVHN family. We are here to serve you.  Please be sure to identify yourself as a LVU parent/legal guardian when seeking care.  Preferred care extends beyond your LVU athlete to all members of your family as well.

Your Care Coordination Team

John Koch
Director of Ambulatory Services

Cell:  570-294-9607
Email:  john.koch@lvhn.org

John is available on a 24/7 basis to provide athletes and their families with accelerated access to superior care serving as LVU’s care coordinator. He will aid athletes and their families in scheduling appointments and seeking care in an accelerated, seamless manner.

Bobby McClarin, CSCS, MBA
Director of Sports Medicine Partnerships

Cell:  (610) 417-8361  
Email:  robert.mcclarin@lvhn.org 

Bobby is responsible for managing the relationship with LVU to ensure LVHN is providing the BEST partnership service to LVU across all facets.  In the event Brian cannot be reached, Bobby is just one phone call away in lending service and support.

Joseph R. Burdi DC, ATC
Head Athletic Trainer

Dr. Joseph Burdi is LVU’s Head Athletic Trainer. For over the past decade, Joe has worked with collegiate, high school, and youth level athletes. He is also the only athletic trainer in the region who is a Chiropractic Physician.

Your Team of Fellowship Trained Orthopedic Physicians

Primary LVU Fellowship Trained Orthopedic Physician

Daniel J. Terpstra, DO
Sports Medicine Orthopedic Physician 
https://www.lvhn.org/doctors/daniel-terpstra 

Dr. Dan Terpstra is LVU’s orthopedic physician.  Dr. Terpstra has served as Lehigh University Athletics physician for years.  Prior to Lehigh, he served as an assistant physician for the Cincinnati Bengals and the University of Cincinnati.

• Muhlenberg College, BS - Biology, 1997
• Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathy, 2002
• Sports Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH
• American Osteopathic Board of Orthopaedic Surgery - Orthopaedic Sports Medicine
• American Osteopathic Board of Orthopaedic Surgery - Orthopaedic Surgery

Other LVU Fellowship Trained Orthopedic Physicians

Nicolas R. Slenker, MD
Sports Medicine Orthopedic Physician
https://www.lvhn.org/doctors/nicholas-slenker 

• University of Arizona, BA - International Studies, 2000
• Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University, MD - Doctor of Medicine, 2007
• Sports Medicine, The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic, 2013
• American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery - Orthopaedic Surgery

Rupam K. Das, MD
Sports Medicine Orthopedic Physician
https://www.lvhn.org/doctors/rupam-das 

• Drexel University, BS - Biomedical Engineering, 2000
• Temple University School of Medicine, MD - Doctor of Medicine, 2010
• Orthopaedic Sports Medicine, University of South Florida - Morsani College of Medicine, Tampa, FL
• American Board of Orthopedic Surgery - Orthopaedic Surgery

LVU Fellowship Trained Sports Medicine Family Practice Physician

Faisal A. Al-Alim, MD
Sports Medicine Family Practice Physician
https://www.lvhn.org/doctors/faisal-al-alim 

• Carleton University, BS - Biochemistry, 2003
• Ross University School of Medicine, MD - Doctor of Medicine, 2008
• American Board of Family Medicine - Family Medicine
• American Board of Family Medicine - Sports Medicine

Sports Performance

Nichole Gervais, CSCS, RYT200

It is Nichole's personal mission to help her clients build confidence within themselves to see and reach their potential both in their sport/hobby AND in their lives. Coach Nichole was always active in sports growing up, especially Track & Field. Nichole graduated with a B.S. in Exercise Science from Bloomsburg University. Coach Nichole is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) through the National Strength and Conditioning Association. She has 7 years of experience coaching and training both kids and adults. Nichole's focus during speed training is on teaching proper running mechanics and/or multi-directional movements to help her clients become more efficient and reduce injuries. 

In addition to speed and strength training, Nichole also teaches yoga. A few years ago, Nichole began practicing yoga to stretch and restore from her active lifestyle. In her practice, she discovered the many benefits (mind and body) that yoga brings. Now a registered yoga teacher, Nichole is passionate about teaching a variety of yoga classes, including fun, energizing, and strengthening practices as well as grounding, restoring, and meditative ones. She loves helping others learn how to create more balance in their lives.

Richard Vance MS, CSCS, NSCA-CPT
Sports Performance Specialist

Rich specializes in training overhead athletes, especially baseball pitchers.  He has a strong understanding of lower body strength development, and he implements training plans around a philosophy that puts injury prevention first.  Rich strongly supports tracking and managing external workloads for athletes whenever possible.

Rich’s background in strength & conditioning began in college as a baseball athlete at Birmingham-Southern College.  He recognized the benefits of strength training during that time and became interested in workload management after suffering a significant elbow injury that was related to overuse. After college, Rich earned his personal training certification through ISSA, and two years later, attended graduate school at Florida State University for two Master's Degrees in Sport Psychology and Exercise Physiology, respectively.  During his graduate career, he also earned his NSCA-CPT and CSCS certifications.

Rich completed his graduate practicum with FSU Athletics, working as a Strength & Conditioning Intern for Track & Field, and also received supervised experience working with Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, and Men’s Club Lacrosse.  Additionally, Rich managed GPS workload data for Cross Country and Women’s Soccer. Outside of his graduate studies, Rich worked for FSU as a personal trainer and eventually moved into a Fitness Coordinator role, managing a large student staff and overseeing fitness programming for a 120,000 sq. ft. recreation center, serving 2000+ daily facility users.

Rich joined LVHN in January 2019 and has provided sports performance services to teams at Cedar Crest College, Emmaus High School, Allentown Central Catholic High School, and Parkland High School.  Rich also leads strength and speed classes at One City Center alongside our other sports performance coaches.

If you are a parent/legal guardian interested in individualized sports performance training for your child, please contact Rich Vance directly at richard.vance@lvhn.org .  Furthermore, please feel free to email Nichole or Rich directly with any questions that you have pertaining to sports performance.