Sports Medicine is a highly desirable practice area for many young physicians entering the field. While it is highly competitive, it is still a growth industry looking for new talent.  It is a given that those with an interest in sports medicine are usually into physical fitness and sports themselves.  There are a few different areas that the physician interested in sports medicine can choose to enter.

Athletic Trainer

This position requires that you work with a team of players on a day-to-day business, performing functions such as patching up minor injuries on the field and training the athletes to keep them in shape for their particular sport.  Usually the athletic trainer will start out their career with little league teams and move on up through the ranks to professional teams.  Breaking into the athletic training arena may be difficult unless you are in a larger urban area – not many schools can afford to hire a full-time athletic trainer.  You may be better off looking at private schools and schools in more affluent neighborhoods when starting out.  Beginning pay is not very good but if you have a talent for it you will eventually be richly rewarded once you get into the “big leagues”, both with being directly responsible for the success of a team and financially. 

Working for Organizations

Clinics, hospitals and private doctors will also generally hire a sports medicine specialist who is just starting out.  This may be a better career choice for those who want to practice pure medicine and don’t wish to get as involved in the day to day as an athletic trainer would.  This is also where athletic trainers go who have “burned out” with the long hours necessary to be a successful athletic trainer. 

Your Own Practice

As with any medical profession, it is possible to open up your own practice.  It is easy to build up a network of referrals quickly for the experienced and qualified sports medicine professional.  You have to ask yourself if you want to truly commit both financially and professionally to your own practice – many get into sports medicine for the thrill of working with a team, not sitting in an office all day.  In the end a practice may be successful financially, but you need to decide which option is right for you and which will allow you to thrive the most.

Take your sports medicine physician job search to the next level with eMatchPhysicians.com.  Stop browsing through thousands of online classified ads and get your personalized instant matches just by completing a FREE profile today.