New York Surgeon Dr. Mark Zoland to Present "Sports Hernia: Not Just for Athletes" at Northwell Health's 2026 Abdominal Wall & Hernia Surgery Symposium
Board-certified general surgeon Mark P. Zoland, MD, FACS, founder of Core Surgical in Manhattan, will deliver a lecture titled "Sports Hernia: Not Just for Athletes" at the 2026 Abdominal Wall & Hernia Surgery Symposium on Saturday, November 14, at The Feinstein Institutes in Manhasset, New York. The talk will examine how core muscle injuries affect active adults, weekend warriors and people with physically demanding jobs, not only competitive athletes.
NEW YORK, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark P. Zoland, MD, FACS, a board-certified general surgeon and founder of Core Surgical in New York City, has been invited to present at the 2026 Abdominal Wall & Hernia Surgery Symposium, a continuing medical education program taking place Saturday, November 14, 2026, at The Feinstein Institutes, 350 Community Drive, Manhasset, New York. Dr. Zoland will deliver a lecture titled "Sports Hernia: Not Just for Athletes," focused on the diagnosis of core muscle injury in patients who may not fit the traditional profile.
The symposium returns this year after its inaugural program in November 2025, which was hosted by Northwell Health at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. Dr. Zoland served as a co-moderator of the inguinal hernia session at that first meeting, and he operates at Lenox Hill Hospital, where Core Surgical's physicians also help mentor and train surgical residents. The full-day, in-person 2026 program brings together surgeons and other clinicians involved in the care of patients with hernias and abdominal wall conditions.
A sports hernia, also known as athletic pubalgia or core muscle injury, is a strain or tear of the muscles and tendons where the lower abdominal wall and the inner thigh muscles attach near the pubic bone. Unlike an inguinal hernia, it usually does not produce a visible bulge, and the pain it causes in the groin and lower abdomen can resemble a hernia, a hip problem or a pulled groin muscle. Because the condition is most often discussed in connection with professional sports, patients outside that setting are sometimes slow to receive an accurate diagnosis.
Dr. Zoland's lecture will address that gap. He will discuss how core muscle injuries can develop in recreational athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and people whose work or daily routines involve repetitive twisting, lifting or sudden changes in direction. The talk will also review the history, physical examination findings and imaging that help clinicians distinguish core muscle injury from inguinal hernia and other causes of groin pain, and when a patient may be a candidate for surgical evaluation.
The topic reflects Dr. Zoland's long clinical and research focus on groin and pelvic pain. He was the lead author of a study on athletic pubalgia in women, published in the Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine in 2018, and he is the author of the book Deciphering Groin and Pelvic Pain. At Core Surgical, he evaluates patients ranging from professional athletes to people who have never played a competitive sport, many of whom have seen several specialists before arriving at a diagnosis.
"When people hear 'sports hernia,' they picture a professional football or hockey player, and that image can keep everyone else from getting the right answer," said Dr. Zoland. "In my practice, I see teachers, parents, construction workers and weekend runners with the same injury. They have been told it is a groin pull or that nothing is wrong, and they have been living with pain for months. I am glad to share that perspective with colleagues at this symposium, because recognizing the condition in a broader group of patients is the first step toward getting them appropriate care."
More About Dr. Mark Zoland and Core Surgical
Mark P. Zoland, MD, FACS, is a board-certified general surgeon and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He earned his bachelor's degree from Columbia University and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College, and he has been board certified since 2001. His areas of focus include sports hernia and core muscle injury, conventional and laparoscopic hernia repair, abdominal wall reconstruction, re-operative hernia surgery, and the evaluation of complex groin and pelvic pain. He has been named to the New York Super Doctors list and has been recognized as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor.
Core Surgical is a surgical practice specializing in hernia repair, sports hernia, and groin and pelvic pain, with offices in Midtown Manhattan and surgical care provided in both New York and New Jersey. Led by Dr. Zoland and Joseph C. Iraci, MD, FACS, the practice serves patients from the New York tri-state area, across the United States and internationally, including professional athletes from the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS, and offers both surgical care and non-surgical treatment recommendations.
For more information about Dr. Mark Zoland or to schedule a consultation, please visit www.coresurgicalmd.com.
Media Contact
Dr. Mark Zoland
Core Surgical
133 E. 58th Street, Suite 703,
New York, NY 10022
(212) 628-8771
SOURCE Core Surgical
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