Sports physician vs physical therapist

The differences between sports physicians and physical therapists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a sports physician has an average salary of $218,368, which is higher than the $73,070 average annual salary of a physical therapist.

The top three skills for a sports physician include ankle, internal medicine and private practice. The most important skills for a physical therapist are patients, rehabilitation, and home health.

Sports physician vs physical therapist overview

	Sports Physician	Physical Therapist
Yearly salary	$218,368	$73,070
Hourly rate	$104.98	$35.13
Growth rate	7%	17%
Number of jobs	39,527	86,697
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	48	41
Years of experience	10	-

Sports physician vs physical therapist salary

Sports physicians and physical therapists have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Sports Physician	Physical Therapist
Average salary	$218,368	$73,070
Salary range	Between $100,000 And $473,000	Between $56,000 And $94,000
Highest paying City	-	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	Parkway
Best paying industry	-	Professional

Differences between sports physician and physical therapist education

There are a few differences between a sports physician and a physical therapist in terms of educational background:

	Sports Physician	Physical Therapist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Nursing	Physical Therapy
Most common college	University of Virginia	Duke University

Sports physician vs physical therapist demographics

Here are the differences between sports physicians' and physical therapists' demographics:

	Sports Physician	Physical Therapist
Average age	48	41
Gender ratio	Male, 64.0% Female, 36.0%	Male, 36.3% Female, 63.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.8% Unknown, 4.1% Hispanic or Latino, 6.4% Asian, 19.9% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 7.5% Asian, 14.3% White, 70.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%
LGBT Percentage	13%	12%

Differences between sports physician and physical therapist duties and responsibilities

Sports physician example responsibilities.

Provide overall quality prenatal health care, gynecological services, patient triage, refer patients with complications, provide patient education service
Maintain current HIPPA, OSHA and other govern files.

Physical therapist example responsibilities.

Conduct in-services and train colleagues in effective techniques for safely managing the CVA patient.
Achieve high level of patients satisfaction due to sound clinical management, quality of care and compassion.
Perform physical therapy evaluation and treatment of orthopedic patients and supervise PTAs.
Progress patients' functional mobility during treatment sessions by modifying task, intensity, and adaptive equipment utilize.
Motivate patients to participate in treatment sessions by educating them on the benefits of early mobility following cardiac and thoracic surgery.
Experience include IFSP and IEP writing and implementation

Sports physician vs physical therapist skills

Common sports physician skills

Ankle, 84%
Internal Medicine, 9%
Private Practice, 4%
Injury Prevention, 4%

Common physical therapist skills

Patients, 30%
Rehabilitation, 15%
Home Health, 13%
Quality Care, 5%
Physical Therapy, 3%
Treatment Programs, 3%

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Healthcare Practitioner and Technical Industry
Sports Physician
Sports Physician vs Physical Therapist

Updated January 8, 2025

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