Sports medicine

Sports medicine
An injured player is carried from the field during a football match.
SystemMusculoskeletal, cardiovascular
Focus
Sports
especially athletics
Significant diseases
Significant testsMusculoskeletal tests
SpecialistSports physician
GlossaryGlossary of medicine
Sports medicine physician, Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM) physician
Occupation
Names
  • Physician
Occupation type
Specialty
Activity sectors
Medicine
Description
CompetenciesExercise prescription, Therapeutic injections
Education required
Fields of
employment
Hospitals, Clinics, Professional sports, College athletics, university

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the late 20th century that sports medicine emerged as a distinct field of health care. In some countries, sports medicine (or sport and exercise medicine) is a recognized medical specialty (with similar training and standards to other medical specialties). In the majority of countries where sports medicine is recognized and practiced, it is a physician (non-surgical) specialty, but in some (such as the USA), it can equally be a surgical or non-surgical medical specialty, and also a specialty field within primary care. In other contexts, the field of sports medicine encompasses the scope of both medical specialists as well as allied health practitioners who work in the field of sport, such as physiotherapists, athletic trainers, podiatrists and exercise physiologists.[1]

  1. ^ Crozier, A; Watson, PM; Graves, LEF; George, K; Naylor, L; Green, DJ; Rosenberg, M; Jones, H (2022). "Clinical exercise provision in the UK: comparison of staff job titles, roles and qualifications across five specialised exercise services". BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 8 (1): e001152. doi:10.1136/bmjsem-2021-001152. PMC 8788312. PMID 35136656.