Sports Medicine is a subspecialty of medicine which deals with the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of sports related injuries. The sports medicine team includes physicians, physical therapists, athletic trainers, surgeons, coaches, and most important, the athlete.
As our society becomes more active, there is more of a need for sports medicine specialists.
Many of these specialists are practicing out in the field, but there are more and more opportunities in new fields of study, clinical and basic science research.
- use of supplements
- doping control
- performance enhancement strategies
- effects of heat/cold control
- the athlete’s health becoming more advanced
- RESULT: the need for research and studies is booming
|
- pulmonary
- orthopedic surgery
- cardiology
- exercise physiology
- biomechanics
Professionals practicing in sports medicine must have a strong medical expertise as well as sport-specific knowledge to deal with the many different situations that come about. |
| A common misunderstanding is that sport-related problems are musculoskeletal in nature and that this is an orthopedic specialty, when in fact there is much more to it than that. An injury or illness in sports can be caused by a wide array of factors such as trauma, environmental issues, physiological and psychological issues. |