How to become a sports doctor

Step 1: Graduate secondary school

Building knowledge to become a sports doctor is similar to building a durable and safe house - you need to choose the correct materials and ensure you have a solid foundation. For a budding sports physician, those materials include secondary school and/or pre-medical degree subjects. To start your career, you need to graduate a secondary school. There are two potential pathways you can take from here: the undergraduate or the pre-medical degree route followed by a postgraduate medical degree.

• Undergraduate medical degree

The majority of medical universities worldwide offer undergraduate degree programs for students who completed secondary school. These are usually either five or six years. Some of them require specific subjects as entry requirements, usually a combination of the basic sciences like biology, chemistry and physics. Choosing to study those in secondary school not only gives you the opportunity to enter medical school but it provides a stepping stone for future courses taught during medical degrees.

• Pre-medical degree

Other medical universities, especially those in the United States of America, but not exclusively, require a pre-medical degree. Such a degree can be in any major desired, as long as it is accredited and the required subjects for medical school are studied. After all, having a business or engineering acumen as a doctor is never a disadvantage.

Pre-medical education lasts approximately three to four years. The specific subjects often asked for by admission teams are general and organic chemistry, biochemistry, physics, calculus or statistics, humanities, social science and behavioural science subjects. Alternatively, there are pre-medical degree programs specializing in sports medicine, kinesiology or exercise science, which offer candidates a solid background for their career that lies ahead. Such programs typically include the subjects required by medical programs. Both pathways require hard work, dedication and excellent grades. In the end, a house can only stand the test of time if its materials are durable and solid.

Step 2: Graduate medical school

After acquiring the materials, you need to build good foundations, for strength and stability. For an evolving sports doctor, the base consists of graduating medical school, which takes between four and six years. You will need to first obtain either a medical (M.D.) or an osteopathic medicine (D.O.) degree. Although both are equally accepted, osteopathic programs emphasize the musculoskeletal system and preventative medicine. In both programs, the focus is on the general science subjects of biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, microbiology and pathology, while performing clinical rotations through various specialities during the final years.

Since a high number of sports doctors are orthopedic surgeons, a high competency of anatomy is important. Even if surgery is not your cup of tea, you will deal with musculoskeletal injuries very frequently working with athletes and understanding biomechanics and being able to differentiate your rectus femoris from your vastus medialis is essential.

Step 3: Complete residency

With the house having a strong foundation, it is now the perfect time to start building it. Upon graduation, you must obtain a licence from the respective country where you wish to practice and then begin the residency training. At this point, the road of aspiring sports doctors splits once again into primary physicians and surgeons. Those who desire to practice primary care sports medicine can chose residencies like family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics or emergency medicine. Alternatively, orthopedic surgery can be the path of choice. The duration of those can vary from three to five years, in case of surgical specialities.

Step 4: Complete a fellowship

With the entire structure of your house built, now you need to add the finishing touches. This is the time when you turn the house into your vision, according to your heart’s content. The final step to become a sports doctor involves the completion of a fellowship. Candidates who specialized in primary care must complete a primary care physician fellowship, while those specialized in orthopedic surgery need to complete a surgical sports medicine fellowship. Such a program lasts between one and two years and involves specializing in the assessment and rehabilitation of sports-related injuries, such as those of the head or spinal cord. Doctors also learn the prescription of protective equipment.