FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Even the most ardent New England Revolution supporters might not know the name Dr. Miho Tanaka, but her role within the organization is of utmost importance. As the club's Chief Medical Officer and Orthopedist, Dr. Tanaka is also the first female head of medical in Revolution history, and just the second woman to hold the role in all of Major League Soccer.

Although she has shattered ceilings, Dr. Tanaka rarely thinks of herself as a trailblazer, even in the midst of Women's History Month.

“I mean, I guess when you put it that way, it sounds pretty interesting,” she said humbly. “I rarely think about the fact that I’m a woman in this, because our role is really to be able to support the players and do a good job. Whether you’re a man, woman, or anyone, oftentimes that doesn’t come into play.”

When she first started working in professional sports, Dr. Tanaka said there were hardly any women in sight. But things have changed.

“I may be the first here, but I’m not the only woman," she said. "No one is surprised or weird about me being in the treatment room. Everyone is so inclusive and open and welcoming. I think the world is really changing.”

As an associate professor at Harvard University, orthopedic surgeon, sports medicine specialist, and leader in the field of women’s sports medicine, Dr. Tanaka plays the role of mentor to many young women.

“I do think that in my conversations, especially when I’m teaching and lecturing, I do get a lot of comments from younger women about how they feel like this maybe opens doors for them,” Dr. Tanaka explained. “So, I think being aware of the fact that people are influenced by who they see in leadership positions is important, and so I do take that to heart to try to be responsible.”

Amongst the many other roles Dr. Tanaka holds, her position at the Revolution requires her to oversee the medical aspects of player care – whether it be finding the right resources, facilitating referrals, or helping the staff maintain compliance with league regulations.

While her job at the Revolution is impressive enough, Dr. Tanaka’s list of responsibilities is vast. In addition to teaching and performing orthopedic surgeries, she is the founding director of Mass General Hospital’s Women’s Sports Medicine Program, Director of Quality and Safety at Mass General Brigham Sports Medicine, a team physician for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Glory, and part of the physician network at the Boston Ballet. She also holds multiple editorial roles, including Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Women’s Sports Medicine. And the list goes on.

Which leads to one burning question – when does she sleep?

“Sleep is very important,” she said in true doctor fashion. “I try to schedule that the same way I schedule everything else.”

Dr. Tanaka began planning her future early, saying that she knew she wanted to work as a sports medicine surgeon from the time she was 11 years old.

“It started really young. I was a track athlete, participated in the junior Olympics, and had a lot of injuries as a kid,” she said. “I saw a lot of doctors and I was just really unimpressed. There wasn’t a lot of sports medicine focused treatment. Doctors were like, ‘Why don’t you just rest for six weeks and see what happens?’ And I was like, 'Well, if I rest for six weeks, I’m going to miss four really important track meets and not qualify.' I thought, if I can walk, why would I need to do this?”

It’s that experience as an athlete that Dr. Tanaka finds essential to her role. Sports medicine, she describes, is an entirely different beast when compared to general orthopedics and medicine. It requires an understanding of an athlete’s mindset.

“Understanding the mentality is important, understanding body movements, and even what the players go through mentally and what it’s like for them to almost lose some of your identity when you’re not able to play,” Dr. Tanaka explained. “So, I do think it helps me help them when they are going through something like that.”

Much of Dr. Tanaka’s research focuses on female athletes and their ability to prevent and recover from injury. In a field where information on female-specific sports medicine is greatly lacking, much of what people know about women’s sports is based off male models. In fact, it’s only been in the last two years that female-specific cleats have even been developed for women’s soccer players.

“The thought has been that women are just smaller versions of men, so that we don't have to think so much about everything else – just make everything smaller,” Dr. Tanaka explained. “But it's really only more recently that we've started understanding what the differences are. The differences as it relates to hormonal perspectives, differences in body shape, differences in how we even control our muscles.”

Dr. Tanaka wants to achieve a level of understanding where women’s sports medicine doesn’t have to exist in a category of its own.

“My hope is it's going to be so commonplace that every chapter in every orthopedic textbook will be half about women and half about men – everybody will know everything, and medicine will become individualized based on the athlete, not just gender or sex, but sport and position," she said.

Since 2021, there has been more than a 300% increase in global revenues from women’s sports – surpassing the billion-dollar mark – and with more professional women’s sports teams joining the ranks in Boston with the PWHL and NWSL, it’s an exciting time to be a sports fan in the city. For Dr. Tanaka, the growth in women’s sports proves we are on the right track. Her focus is on supporting more research to keep female athletes healthy for longer.

“You would hate to see someone who could be the first woman to X, Y, or Z, get sidelined with an injury and never fulfill that reality," she said. "So, that's where I see our job, to remove that from the equation so that they can really break barriers without worrying about injuries.”

With the Revolution, Dr. Tanaka is more than just a leader in the treatment room – she’s a true part of the team.

“Dr. Tanaka is a world-renowned surgeon that brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise into our medical team at the Revolution,” said Eric Schwartz, the Revolution's Director of Sports Medicine and Head Athletic Trainer. “She readily makes herself available for us at all times and is a great supporter in guiding our decision making along accurate paths. She brings a no-nonsense aura of the utmost professionalism, and we are very lucky to have her here.”

In a sport that thrives on the unity of a team, Dr. Tanaka embodies those values, continuing to break barriers both in New England and in MLS. With staff members like Dr. Tanaka, it’s easy to see that the Revolution isn’t just about what happens on the field – it’s about the people behind the scenes who make the club stronger every day.