Sports medicine is not a single profession but rather an "umbrella" grouping careers related to treatment of athletic injury and the effects of exercise on health. Practitioners of sports medicine include physicians, athletic trainers, nutritionists, physical therapists, psychologists, and many others.

Medicine

A physician wishing to specialize in sports medicine could do a residency in any discipline. The most traditional choice is orthopedics, treating bone, joint, and ligament injuries to which athletes are often prone. Another appropriate specialty is physical medicine and rehabilitation—the physiatrist works to restore damaged physical function, generally without surgery but using such methods as orthopedics, prescription drugs, massage, biofeedback, and therapeutic exercise. Whatever specialty is chosen, the physician will probably want to choose a residency site with a sports medicine center. Training should include study of the stresses of exercise, related injuries, alternative forms of exercise during treatment of injury, means of treating injuries with minimal effect on athletic performance, and ways healthy athletes can maximize performance. See EducationUSAIran’s articles on medicine for more details on applying to U.S. residencies.

Athletic Training

Despite the name, athletic trainers are not today generally involved in training athletes. Instead they work with team physicians, coaches, and other staff to care for and prevent team illness or injury and maximize athletic performance. Trainers generally apply wraps, braces, and other protection prior to games, provide first-line attention to injuries, and help carry out therapy programs. They may also be involved in coaching or development of exercise programs. Athletic trainers hold a bachelor's degree in athletic training, physical education, exercise science, or a health area and in some cases also a master's degree. They should have studied human anatomy, human physiology, biomechanics, exercise physiology, athletic training, nutrition, and psychology or counseling.

In the United States athletic trainers are most commonly certified by the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA,www.nata.org). Several other organizations also offer professional credentials.

More Choices

Sports nutritionists study nutrient intake and use during sports activity. They help athletes and others concerned with fitness find the best balance of foods for maximum physical performance. A bachelor's degree in dietetics or nutrition is the minimum for this field, and those who wish to become consultants generally earn at least a master's degree and pursue additional courses or work experience in exercise science, physical education, sports sciences, and related fields.

Sports psychologists focus on the workings of the mind in sports situations. For example they might examine athletic slumps, sports aggression, or the effects of overtraining. Sports psychologists often teach in universities and conduct research; they may also consult with sports teams and individuals concerned with their athletic performance. A doctorate is generally required for sports psychology professions. Study will either be based in a sports science discipline with additional study in psychology, or involve an advanced degree in psychology with additional course work in the sports sciences.

Here are a few more choices for individuals interested in sports medicine careers (though still not a full list):

• Exercise physiologist. Researches the functional changes that occur in the body during exercise.

• Sports biomechanist. Looks at the laws of physics as applied to exercise and sport, for example analyzing human movement or the effects of using new types of sports equipment.

• Kinesiotherapist or corrective therapist. Uses exercise to rehabilitate persons who have suffered injury or disease. Educational preparation involves a bachelor's degree in kinesiotherapy, physical education, exercise physiology, or a related field.

• Sports physical therapist. Uses both exercise and other physical means (heat, electricity, and so forth) to treat athletic injury. Plans programs to improve conditioning and athletic performance. Requires completion of at least a first professional-level master's or doctoral degree program in physical therapy.  See the American Physical Therapy Association site (www.apta.org) page on education for more information on physical therapy study options.

The Sports Medicine Major

A number of U.S. colleges and universities now offer undergraduate and master's degree programs in which the concentration or the actual degree granted is "sports medicine." What this means varies from program to program. Most are interdisciplinary and combine study of the physiology of exercise, biomechanics, and athletic training.

Students will want to examine how well the curriculum of the particular program that they are considering matches their academic interests and career ambitions. They also will probably not want to limit themselves to the relatively small number of programs specifically titled "sports medicine" but look also to closely related fields such as athletic training, exercise physiology, exercise science, sport science, biomechanics, motor behavior, movement science, and specializations within physical education.