Career Opportunities in Sports Medicine
Have you given serious thought to the kind of work you want to do when you are graduated from
school? Do you enjoy helping people with their problems, working on a person-to-person basis or with
groups of people? Do you advise family members and friends on their problems, or perform volunteer
work in a hospital or other health-care facility? Are science, English, health, and physical education
among your favorite school subjects? Do you think you would like to work in a high school, college,
hospital, or health-care clinic? Do you like working with athletes? If your answer to some of these
questions is Yes, you should explore career opportunities in sports medicine.
Sports Medicine
Sports medicine is "the aspect of medical care that focuses on diet and exercise programs for athletes,
monitors them as they train and compete, and helps to prevent or to treat sports-related injuries"
(Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia). The sports medicine field encompasses many medical disciplines-among them are nutrition, physiology, psychology, physical therapy, and surgery--and many different
professions. The primary purpose of the sports medicine field is to serve the needs of participants who
are trying to reach their athletic goals in the most effective manner under safe conditions.
Sports medicine focuses on four areas: the preparation of the athlete, prevention of injury and illness,
diagnosis and treatment of injury, and rehabilitation of injury. Preparation includes both physical and
mental preparation. Physical preparation involves conducting conditioning exercises to develop certain
muscle groups and to increase the capacity of the heart and lungs to supply the body with a greater
amount of oxygen. Mental preparation focuses on building a high self-esteem, maintaining a desire to
train regularly, avoiding undue risks, learning to accept whatever changes in lifestyle may be necessary
to accomplish athletic goals, and handling psychological stress associated with the risk of injury or
illness.
Effective treatment of sports injuries relies on accurate diagnosis and early treatment to prevent further
damage. Technology advances have given sports medicine several new means to diagnose injury. Xrays and bone scans are used to diagnose joint and bone injuries; arthrograms and arthroscopy are used
to diagnose and treat many knee injuries that could not be rehabilitated 30 years ago. CT scans assist
sports medicine practitioners in evaluating neck and head injuries. Ice, heat, and anti-inflammatory
drugs are used frequently to treat sprains or dislocations. A multidisciplinary approach using physical
therapy, physical training, and mental training has proven to be effective in rehabilitation of an athlete's
injury.
Practitioners
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The number of people working in sports medicine has increased as more and more people have
participated in competitive and recreational athletic sports and games during the past four decades.
Those directly involved in providing health services to athletes are physicians, dentists, physical
therapists, athletic trainers, exercise physiologists, nutritionists, psychologists, and strength coaches.
Also included in sports medicine are those who conduct research in such areas as biomechanics, an area
of science that studies body motion, and kinesiology, the study of anatomy and the movement of
muscles.
Athletic directors, coaches, equipment personnel, referees, members of sports governing bodies and
rules committees, and suppliers of sports equipment and facilities are also considered by many to be
part of the sports medicine field. People holding these positions are as concerned with having athletes
achieve their maximum effectiveness in a safe environment as are athletic trainers, exercise
physiologists, etc.
Athletic Trainers
Athletic trainers are directly involved in preparing, preventing, diagnosing, treating, and rehabilitating
athletic injuries. The athletic trainer is a sports medicine professional who deals with the athlete from
the time of initial injury until the athlete has permission to return to practice or competition.
Places of Employment
Athletic trainers have many more employment opportunities today than they did in the early 1950s,
when nearly all trainers worked in colleges and universities or with professional teams. Today, athletic
trainers are employed in school districts or secondary schools, sports medicine clinics, and corporations,
in addition to colleges and universities and professional sport teams.
Colleges and universities. The athletic trainer's position varies considerably from institution to
institution at this level. In smaller institutions, the athletic trainer may combine teaching physical
education classes with athletic training duties. Some institutions seek other (Cylkowski, 262)
combinations. One such combination may be hiring an athletic trainer who is also a physical therapist so
that person can work as an athletic trainer in the intercollegiate athletic department and as a physical
therapist in the school's health center. Larger institutions employ one or more athletic trainers who do
not have teaching responsibilities and who work full-time in the intercollegiate athletic office. In some
instances, the athletic trainer is expected to serve those in the general student body who participate in
intramural or club sports, as well as student-athletes who participate in intercollegiate sports.
Professional teams. The athletic trainer for a professional team performs specific team training duties
during the team's playing season and then conducts conditioning and rehab programs during the offseason. One advantage of working for a professional team may be the opportunity to specialize in
preventing and treating injuries common to one sport. Another advantage may be the opportunity to
earn substantial bonuses when the professional team advances to playoffs and wins championships.
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Sports medicine clinics. Sports medicine clinics employ greater numbers of athletic trainers today than
any other employment setting. Most clinical athletic trainers care for patients with sports-related
injuries during the morning hours. In the afternoon and/or evening hours, the clinic contracts the
athletic trainer's services to local secondary schools or small colleges for practice and/or game coverage.
Clinics generally have well-equipped athletic training facilities and pay higher salaries than those paid by
other employers of athletic training. The clinic also provides a great deal of variety for the athletic
trainer.
Industrial settings. Many corporations with a large number of employees at one location employ
athletic trainers to oversee employee fitness and injury rehab programs (Arnheim and Prentice, 23).
Employment opportunities in this setting are expected to grow as corporations continue to search for
ways to curb rising health-care costs and seek the benefits derived from a workforce that enjoys good
health.