The true heart of athletic culture is not always found in towering stadiums or under the blinding lights of global television broadcasts. Frequently, it resides in the community fields, the local collegiate tracks, and the high school gymnasiums where raw passion intersects with local pride. Sustaining the health of these grassroots ecosystems requires a localized champion. Dr. Kevin Burroughs has spent more than two decades becoming exactly that for the communities of North Carolina.
Dr. Burroughs represents the archetype of the deeply entrenched community physician, a medical anchor who understands that treating a high school quarterback is just as critical as managing the health of a collegiate star. His career is a study in sustained community commitment, built around clinical care, education, athletic safety, and access to non-operative sports medicine.
The Architect of Concord’s Athletic Health
His medical journey began with an MD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. Recognizing the need for comprehensive training, he completed both a Family Medicine residency and a Sports Medicine Fellowship through the Moses Cone Health System in Greensboro, North Carolina. His formal training at Cone ran from 1996 to 1999 in Family Medicine and from 1999 to 2000 in Sports Medicine.
By 2003, he was practicing in Concord at the Sports Medicine and Injury Center, now part of the Atrium Health Musculoskeletal Institute, located at 5651 Poplar Tent Road, Suite 102. The center became a setting where athletes and active patients could receive specialized musculoskeletal and sports medicine care close to home.
Education and the Grassroots Mission
A true leader understands that their legacy is not solely in the patients they heal, but in the practitioners they train. The Cabarrus Sports Medicine Fellowship was established in 2005, and Dr. Burroughs became its Founder and Director. For two decades, he has helped transform Concord into an important training ground for primary care sports medicine physicians, multiplying his impact on the field through medical education.
His relationship with Atrium Health and its predecessor organizations has been profound and enduring. He is the Co-Chief of Primary Care Sports Medicine at the Atrium Health Musculoskeletal Institute, where his responsibilities extend beyond individual patient care into program development and clinical leadership.
The grassroots level of sports is where his presence is perhaps most tangibly felt. He serves as the dedicated Team Physician for Catawba College and AL Brown High School. He is also the Head Team Physician for the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers, a Minor League Baseball team, and a Venue Medical Director for Charlotte FC. Beyond individual teams, he acts as the Medical Director for Athletic Training services for the Cabarrus County and Kannapolis City school systems. His commitment to the regional culture of sports is further evidenced by his role as a Team Physician for the NC/SC Shrine Bowl.
A Quarter Century of Care
His tireless efforts to elevate the standard of care have earned him profound respect among his peers. He was named the North Carolina Athletic Trainers Association’s Sports Medicine Person of the Year, a recognition that reflects his longstanding collaboration with the athletic training community. His other honors include the Most Valuable Attending Award from the Cabarrus Family Medicine Residency in 2006, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Resident Teaching Award in 1999, and the 2024 Atrium Physician Career Award.
In 2024, the North Carolina High School Athletic Association also recognized Dr. Burroughs with its Region 6 Special Person Award for his long-standing contributions to student-athlete health and safety. He remains active on the NCHSAA Sports Medicine Advisory Committee and currently serves as its Chair.
A prolific communicator, he has delivered more than 100 state, regional, and national presentations, ensuring that the knowledge generated in his clinics reaches a broader audience. Atrium Health now credits him with more than 50 articles and book chapters spanning Family Medicine and Sports Medicine. By continuously weaving together clinical practice, fellowship education, and hands-on community engagement, he has built a resilient regional sports medicine ecosystem that continues to serve North Carolina.
Care Designed for the Community
What distinguishes Dr. Burroughs’s model is the proximity of care to the people who need it. The Cabarrus Sports Medicine Fellowship describes its mission around evidence-based, non-operative musculoskeletal care and preparing physicians to become leaders in the health and safety of athletics within their communities. Fellows train across sports medicine clinics, orthopedic settings, training rooms, and sidelines, while gaining exposure to physical therapy, sports nutrition, sports psychology, pharmacology, ultrasound, and preventive medicine.
That structure mirrors the philosophy Dr. Burroughs has embodied throughout his career. Sports medicine does not have to begin at the professional level to make a meaningful difference. A well-supported high school athlete, a collegiate competitor, a recreational runner, or an active adult can all benefit from the same fundamental principles of timely diagnosis, appropriate rehabilitation, injury prevention, and coordinated care.
His career therefore represents more than longevity. It represents continuity, a model in which the physician remains connected to the schools, teams, trainers, athletes, families, and future clinicians who collectively make up a community’s sporting life.
And after more than two decades in Concord, that community remains at the center of the work.
