Sports Medicine Careers

Injured professional sports athletes and manual laborers both rely on sports medicine practitioners to help them get back to work. Sports medicine health providers, a profession that dates back to the ancient Olympic games, work with anyone who is physically active — from children to adults — to prevent and treat injuries.

Here you can learn more about the difference jobs in sports medicine at each degree level and where you can work.

People living with sports-related and work injuries turn to sports medicine to help get back into their daily routines and prevent reinjury.

Healthcare sports medicine helps athletes reach optimal performance through injury evaluations, diet and nutrition guidance, and exercise recommendations. Athletes can also undergo concussion evaluation and treatment at sports medicine centers across the country.

The field of sports medicine includes a broad variety of occupations, from exercise physiologists to sports team physicians. They work in specialties such as primary care, orthopedics, and adolescent sports medicine to address musculoskeletal health issues.

Sports healthcare providers commonly see patients who have ankle sprains, fractures, knee and shoulder injuries, concussions, and cartilage injuries. Workers who have chronic injuries from manual labor jobs also turn to sports medicine specialists.

Compared to future growth projections for all occupations, jobs in sports medicine should outpace other industries, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The BLS projects employment for exercise physiologists to increase by 10% from 2022-2032. And athletic trainer positions are estimated to grow by 14%.

What you earn in sports medicine depends on your degree, experience, and the specific career, as you can see in the chart below.

Potential jobs in sports medicine include athletic trainers – who made median annual salaries of $57,930 in 2023, according to the BLS, and physicians, who earned around $236,000 annually.

At every educational level, you have the possibility to land various careers in healthcare sports medicine. Explore your career potential at every degree level below.

A formal college education can advance your healthcare sports medicine career, but it’s not the only way. Many other paths can lead to a promotion in the industry. You can gain professional certifications or complete other continuing education activities, as we discuss below.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) offer certifications that allow sports medicine specialists recognition for their experience, increasing their visibility to clients and employers. Certification may be required for your chosen occupation, but not all jobs mandate credentials.

For instance, sports medicine physicians often need a certificate of added qualifications from the American Board of Family Medicine. Requirements for this certification include full-time training in an accredited fellowship program and a passing score on the Sports Medicine Certification exam.

Getting an advanced degree can almost always lead to a better position and salary in sports medicine. Aside from going back to college, certificate programs offered through professional organizations such as ACSM and NASM allow you to keep current in your sports medicine practice and gain certification to prove it. ACSM offers continuing education courses and certifications such as its clinical exercise physiologist certification prep program.

Also, NASM offers free courses on topics such as performance enhancement, nutrition, and corrective exercises. Other opportunities include fellowships such as the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM) fellowship with the national resident matching program.

You can brush up on your sports medicine knowledge and skills by completing continuing education credits, which include virtual and in-person courses, workshops, and conferences. Annual conferences held through professional organizations such as AMSSM offer workshops and the chance to get face time with people in your field from across the country.

Sports medicine professionals also stay informed by reading the American Journal of Sports Medicine, Sports Medicine, and the British Journal of Sports Medicine. You may also have the chance to contribute academic writing to peer-reviewed journals to broaden your network.

Healthcare sports medicine is a broad industry that offers the opportunity to work in a wide variety of settings, from sports teams to healthcare facilities. Your work setting depends on your degree and the patient population that you serve. Many professionals work in physician offices and nursing facilities, but you can also work in research and teaching in schools and colleges. Other possible areas to work include:

Many professionals who gain an education in sports medicine find positions at general medical and surgical hospitals. For instance, about 31,930 occupational therapists work in general medical and surgical hospitals, according to the BLS. In hospitals, occupational therapists help patients after surgery to strengthen their muscles and regain physical strength.

Sports medicine physician assistants at private healthcare offices provide medical assessments and treatments to injured patients. They work under the supervision of a licensed physician, but have the authority to make medicine and equipment prescriptions and treat patients.

Common treatments include casting fractured bones or applying post-surgery braces.

About 13% of recreational therapists work at nursing and residential care facilities, where they focus on helping adults who cannot live independently. At nursing facilities, recreational therapists provide therapeutic interventions and educate families and caregivers to help patients improve mobility and functionality.

Amateur and professional sports teams pay team physicians from local hospitals to rehabilitate injured players and promote the team’s overall health. You’ll find team physicians working on basketball, football, rugby, volleyball, and soccer teams.

People who hold a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine can pursue a career as a coach in elementary and secondary schools. Coaches lead a variety of sports teams and/or teach health courses. Roughly 21% of coaches, or 49,900 members of the workforce, hold positions in elementary and secondary schools which may require a state issued non-teaching license.

Sports medicine offers a variety of personally and financially rewarding professions for people of all education levels. The overall field is in demand of qualified professionals. Increased sports injuries and a greater interest in the fitness lifestyle have fueled the global sports medicine market, which stood at $5.46 billion as of 2023, according to Grand View Research.

What you can achieve professionally in sports medicine depends on your education. With a bachelor’s degree, you can become an athletic trainer or high school coach. Earning a master’s degree qualifies you to pursue a clinical position as a physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or occupational therapist. And a doctorate degree opens the doors to medical positions as a sports medicine physician or teaching in college.

Yes. Employers need sports medicine professionals to fill open positions. However, the demand depends on the career. The BLS projects that jobs for coaches and scouts to increase by 9% from 2022-2032 adding about 38,400 positions each year. Demand for exercise physiologists should grow by 10% from 2022-2032.

Salaries for sports medicine professionals vary by each career. Different factors such as experience, degree, and type of career can influence your salary. For instance, athletic trainers earn a median annual wage of $57,930, while orthopedic surgeons make an average annual wage of $378,250 (BLS, May 2023).