What does a sports medicine physician do?
Sports medicine physician responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real sports medicine physician resumes:
- Assist with managing chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and CHF.
- Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
- Assist with managing chronic illnesses including diabetes, hypertension, and CHF.
Sports medicine physician skills and personality traits
We calculated that 36% of Sports Medicine Physicians are proficient in Sports Medicine, Family Medicine, and Primary Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Compassion, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Sports Medicine Physicians that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Sports Medicine, 36%
Fellowship-trained, nonsurgical Sports Medicine Physician regarded by colleagues as a skilled diagnostician.
- Family Medicine, 20%
Paneled physician providing family medicine services for family members of active duty military personnel and for retired military families.
- Primary Care, 13%
Cared for patients in outpatient and primary care medical facility; practiced occupational medicine and assisted individuals suffering from industrial injuries.
- Family Practice, 9%
Supervised family practice residents in outpatient clinic and obstetrical and family practice inpatient services.
- EMR, 6%
Maintain accurate EMR documentation of all services given to patient under strict confidentiality.
- Internal Medicine, 4%
Teach Internal Medicine to residents and medical students* Perform physicals for various executives in the community through Executive Health Services
"sports medicine," "family medicine," and "primary care" are among the most common skills that sports medicine physicians use at work. You can find even more sports medicine physician responsibilities below, including:
Communication skills. The most essential soft skill for a sports medicine physician to carry out their responsibilities is communication skills. This skill is important for the role because "physicians and surgeons need to be excellent communicators." Additionally, a sports medicine physician resume shows how their duties depend on communication skills: "maintained excellent inter-department communication to ensure quality patient care. "
Compassion. Another essential skill to perform sports medicine physician duties is compassion. Sports medicine physicians responsibilities require that "patients who are sick or injured may be in extreme pain or distress." Sports medicine physicians also use compassion in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provided competent, compassionate patient care and worked effectively as a member of the health care team. "
Detail oriented. sports medicine physicians are also known for detail oriented, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to sports medicine physician responsibilities, because "patients must receive appropriate treatment and medications." A sports medicine physician resume example shows how detail oriented is used in the workplace: "interpret and ensure accuracy of detailed documentation to facilitate patient care and safety. "
Dexterity. sports medicine physician responsibilities often require "dexterity." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "physicians and surgeons may work with very precise and sometimes sharp tools, and mistakes can have serious consequences." This resume example shows what sports medicine physicians do with dexterity on a typical day: "conducted hands-on minor surgical procedures such as homeostasis, debridement, suturing and dressing the wound. "
Leadership skills. Another crucial skill for a sports medicine physician to carry out their responsibilities is "leadership skills." A big part of what sports medicine physicians relies on this skill, since "physicians who work in their own practice must manage a staff of other professionals." How this skill relates to sports medicine physician duties can be seen in an example from a sports medicine physician resume snippet: "observed patient care and learned about common diseases 42 hours shadowed total leadership positions"
Physical stamina. Lastly, "physical stamina" is an important element of what a sports medicine physician does. Sports medicine physician responsibilities require this skill because "physicians and surgeons should be comfortable lifting or turning disabled patients, or performing other physical tasks." This resume example highlights how sports medicine physician duties rely on this skill: "volunteered and performed sports physicals for local underserved high school students"
The three companies that hire the most sports medicine physicians are:
- Curative5 sports medicine physicians jobs
- MEDNAX4 sports medicine physicians jobs
- Atlantic Health4 sports medicine physicians jobs
Compare different sports medicine physicians
Sports medicine physician vs. Physician
Physicians' general responsibility is to check, diagnose, and treat a patient's condition to improve their overall wellness. A physician could be General Practitioners or Specialist Physicians, wherein General Practitioners are physicians who provide regular checkups for patients depending on their needs and refer them to a Specialist Physicians who are more skilled in a particular field of expertise for a thorough diagnosis. Physicians monitor a patient's medical history and ensure follow-up checkups to observe if the condition of a patient is changing over time. A physician may refer a patient to other health professionals for further examination as needed.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a sports medicine physician are more likely to require skills like "sports medicine," "family medicine," "physical therapy," and "medicine clinic." On the other hand, a job as a physician requires skills like "patients," "surgery," "patient care," and "rehabilitation." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Physicians earn the highest salaries when working in the health care industry, with an average yearly salary of $169,042. On the other hand, sports medicine physicians are paid more in the non profits industry with an average salary of $208,650.On average, physicians reach similar levels of education than sports medicine physicians. Physicians are 3.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 9.9% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sports medicine physician vs. Athletic team physician
A sports medicine specialist is a health care expert who specializes in diagnosing and treating injuries of athletes. Their responsibilities typically revolve around providing check-ups and consultations, conducting assessments and examinations, developing care and treatment plans, and providing insights to coaches when developing athletic training programs. They may also assist patients by answering inquiries and sharing care advice. A sports medicine specialist typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that sports medicine physician responsibilities requires skills like "sports medicine," "family medicine," "primary care," and "family practice." But an athletic team physician might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "student athletes," "customer service," "sales floor," and "championship."
Athletic team physicians earn similar levels of education than sports medicine physicians in general. They're 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 9.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Sports medicine physician vs. Sports medicine specialist
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from sports medicine physician resumes include skills like "sports medicine," "family medicine," "primary care," and "family practice," whereas a sports medicine specialist is more likely to list skills in "patients," "patient care," "role model," and "adaptive. "
When it comes to education, sports medicine specialists tend to earn higher degree levels compared to sports medicine physicians. In fact, they're 6.1% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 25.5% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Sports medicine physician vs. Sports physician
Types of sports medicine physician
Updated January 8, 2025
