What Is Sports Medicine?

Weekend warrior or seasoned athlete, you can benefit from the services of this team

Who’s on the Team?

Sports medicine physicians are the most highly specialized, but there’s an array of professionals who can help you get fit and prevent or recover from injuries. These include:

Licensed physical therapist—Evaluates and provides therapy to physically impaired patients, typically in medical/rehab settings; helps athletes, workers and others prevent injury. Requires master’s or doctoral degree; clinical experience.

Certified exercise physiologist—Monitors, assesses and guides clients through cardiovascular, strength and flexibility programs in academic, health care and sports settings. Requires master’s degree in exercise science or related field.

Certified exercise specialist—Monitors, assesses and guides clients through cardiovascular, strength and flexibility programs in medically based settings. Requires bachelor’s degree or higher in health-related field.

Certified athletic trainer—Works with athletes in school, college or pro-team settings to prevent, manage and rehabilitate sports-related injuries. Requires bachelor's or master's degree in athletic training.

"Many people claim to be fitness experts, says exercise physiologist John Graham of the Human Performance Center in Allentown. "Make sure they are credentialed by a reputable organization like the National Strength and Conditioning Association or the American College of Sports Medicine."

You’re playing basketball and your knee pops. You try to walk off the pain, but it only gets more intense. What should you do? Your immediate options are the emergency room or your family doctor—but there’s another resource you may not know about: the sports medicine physician, a specialist in athletic injuries.

Some sports medicine physicians are orthopedic surgeons, others have backgrounds in family, internal or emergency medicine, or pediatrics. They’ve all completed an additional one- or two-year fellowship in sports medicine and a board-certification test.

Thanks to that specialized education, these physicians better understand the mechanics involved in sports- or dance-related injuries. “Our knowledge of the muscles and tendons used in different activities allows us to diagnose these injuries, sometimes without the need for expensive tests,” says sports medicine physician Laura Dunne, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network. “For example, if a ballerina comes in with pain in her ankle, I’ll ask her to stand on her toes. By examining her in position, I can get a better idea of what’s causing the problem.”

After identifying the injury, the sports medicine specialist has several treatment options. Depending on the severity of the injury and the patient’s goals, the solution might be as complex as surgery or as simple as an adjusted training regimen. “Just because you’re injured, it doesn’t mean you have to sit out the rest of your season,” says Dunne’s colleague, orthopedic surgeon Mitch Cooper, M.D.

Sports medicine physicians don’t practice in a vacuum. They work closely with physical therapists, exercise specialists and others (see box, left), especially in the areas of rehabilitation and injury prevention.

As you work your way back from an injury, the sports medicine team can provide ongoing care. “If you’re playing hurt, your body is using extra energy to compensate, and that hinders your performance,” Dunne says. With that in mind, sports medicine professionals can help you make the right decisions during training about issues like nutrition, stretching and hydration techniques. That protects you from aggravating your injury or causing another.

Want to Know More? For a list of medical fitness centers, certification details, or referral to a fitness specialist who can guide you in a home program, or information on specific sports-related injuries, click here or click on the links in the column on the right side of this page.

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