Subspecialty Careers: Sports Medicine
The Discipline
The discipline of sports medicine primarily concerns itself with the emergency assessment and care of acutely injured athletes, diagnosis, treatment and management of common sports injuries and illnesses, management of medical problems of the athlete, rehabilitation of ill and injured athletes, and exercise as treatment.
Training
Sports Medicine fellowship training requires 12 months of accredited training beyond general internal medicine residency.
Certification
The Sports Medicine Certification Program is jointly developed by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM), the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), and the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP).
Training Positions
For the 2011-2012 academic year, there were 113 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited training programs in Sports Medicine with 186 trainees.