"A 'sports medicine team' can have any number of allied health professionals, including physical therapists, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, dieticians, psycologists, and physicians..."

I meet with many prospective Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training students each year who want to go into “sports medicine.” This often leads to a greater discussion to clarify the difference between sports medicine and becoming a certified athletic trainer. 

In many current settings, the certified athletic trainer (ATC) works directly with athletes on a daily basis to provide injury assessment, rehabilitation, treatment, and prevention of sports-related injuries. In a broader view, the ATC is the first allied health care provider to interact with an athlete. This may be as simple as a question regarding an injury or as serious as an emergency, depending on the situation. Obviously, the athletic trainer cannot handle every situation independently, and this is where the concept of sports medicine comes in.

Sports medicine is a concept, or team approach, to caring for the physically active or athletes.  This team approach can and should include many different personnel from diverse backgrounds. Medically speaking, a “sports medicine team” can have any number of allied health professionals, including physical therapists, nurses, EMTs, pharmacists, dietitians, psychologists, and physicians from different specialties to name a few. Examples of expertise outside of the medical field may include biomechanics, exercise physiology, and strength and conditioning. Post-graduate sports medicine fellowships for physicians and specialized training in dietetics are examples of a more structured approach for professionals to learn the sports medicine concept. However, in most cases,  allied health professionals have not received formal sports medicine training before they care for an athlete as a patient, and, more specifically, address that patient’s goals. The ATC serves as the “hub of the wheel” in directing the athlete to all of the health care specialists who can assist the athlete in trying to achieve his or her goals. The ultimate goal for all involved should be to return the athlete to competition quickly and safely. However, should it be any different when dealing with a worker who is not able to acquire a paycheck because he or she is unable to work? Sometimes health care providers ask patients to wait and the problem will get better; however, in most cases, a proactive approach—diagnosis directly to rehab vs. diagnosis and wait to see if it gets progressively better—results in better care for the patient.

The UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences has housed the Division of Sports Medicine (DSM) for 20 years within the Department of Family and Community Medicine.  The DSM has provided a home for the nationally accredited Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training (BSAT) undergraduate degree, a fourth-year medical student sports medicine elective rotation, and clinical education for physical therapy students. The DSM also provides athletic training services to the Department of Athletics. In addition, the UND Center for Sports Medicine, an outpatient rehabilitation facility on campus, provides care for athletes and non-athletes within the University, Grand Forks, and the surrounding area. There currently is a push nationally to house athletic training academic programs in schools of medicine or allied health such as is done at UND.  UND’s model is unique. As stated by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education in their last BSAT accreditation visit, “This [UND] model has provided many benefits to the program, which can be shared with and used as a model for others to follow.”