Sports Med and sports fans?

[NRAI2001]

Do you pretty much have to a huge sports fan to get into sports med fellowships?

I love playing all sorts of sports. I am active in many hobbies and I m in pretty decent shape (will get back into it now that I am third year)... I do however have a really strong interest in sports med.

I am not however the typical sports fanatic that the few SM guys I met where. Do you find most SM docs are? What's your guys take on this?

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[teacherman84]

Do you pretty much have to a huge sports fan to get into sports med fellowships?

I love playing all sorts of sports. I am active in many hobbies and I m in pretty decent shape (will get back into it now that I am third year)... I do however have a really strong interest in sports med.

I am not however the typical sports fanatic that the few SM guys I met where. Do you find most SM docs are? What's your guys take on this?

No...of course you dot have to be a sports fanatic. I'd agree many are, but I kinda fall where you do. Love bing active, I'll play anything. Watching, reading and talking about college/pro sports doesn't do much for me.
During interviews, when conversation went that way, I would listen, join in where I could...but I never tried to fake it and I don't think anyone cares. Now in fellowship I'm surrounded by it...again, I'll join in when I know something, I'll watch a game if it's on, but it's not my thing. Love taking care of athletes, I want my team to win, but could care less about stats, etc.

 

[TableMD]

Absolutely not. Never came up on interviews really. I got sucked in because I enjoyed coverage during residency. I like fitness and playing sports personally but Im hardly a sport fan at all, outside of endurance events and MMA....

 

[septoplasty]

You mean you're not getting live ESPN updates on your smart watch as things develop during the day?

Sorry, don't think you're sports med material.

Just kidding. But really, this is how one of the programs I did a audition at was like.. haha. I felt totally left out. In reality, it doesn't matter, really.

Although once you get in, and are covering sports, its a good idea to know the game at a soccer mom level (helps with relating to your patients [players], expect injuries i.e. differences in injuries to a QB vs. an offensive tackle etc.), and also you get into a bit more too.

 

[NRAI2001]

I do know and enjoy sports.. I played highschool football and baseball. Played soccer and basketball growing up and in junior high.

Like you said I m not one of those guys that knows every ESPN update or every statistic all the time.

 

[JonMonkey]

I don't think it matters whether or not you are a huge sports fan or not. I do think that you need to have and show an interest in caring for athletes however.

 

[Doctor-S]

Although once you get in, and are covering sports, its a good idea to know the game at a soccer mom level (helps with relating to your patients [players], expect injuries i.e. differences in injuries to a QB vs. an offensive tackle etc.), and also you get into a bit more too.

Agree with this.

FWIW ... it's useful to be able to conceptualize performance/body mechanics/injuries related to different sports. Plus, it's useful to understand sports-specific lingo in connection with different sports. This knowledge is useful to many medical specialists who are not specifically trained in sports medicine (e.g., neuro, ortho, EM, ophthal).

 

[Relentlessrook18]

Do you pretty much have to a huge sports fan to get into sports med fellowships?

I love playing all sorts of sports. I am active in many hobbies and I m in pretty decent shape (will get back into it now that I am third year)... I do however have a really strong interest in sports med.

I am not however the typical sports fanatic that the few SM guys I met where. Do you find most SM docs are? What's your guys take on this?

I'm so glad you asked this because I've been wondering the same thing. I live in SW VA/East TN and all I hear about are Virginia Tech football or University Tennessee football. Haha I feel so left out as well. But, I have always had an interest in sports med. I love OMT, so I figured this would be a way that I could get more of it in. I guess my question is though would be what is the goal of most people wanting to do a sport med fellowship? Mine would be to get more knowledge about MSK injuries and treating them, but maybe that isn't a good enough reason to want to do an extra year of residency. I appreciate any input!

 

[teacherman84]

I'm so glad you asked this because I've been wondering the same thing. I live in SW VA/East TN and all I hear about are Virginia Tech football or University Tennessee football. Haha I feel so left out as well. But, I have always had an interest in sports med. I love OMT, so I figured this would be a way that I could get more of it in. I guess my question is though would be what is the goal of most people wanting to do a sport med fellowship? Mine would be to get more knowledge about MSK injuries and treating them, but maybe that isn't a good enough reason to want to do an extra year of residency. I appreciate any input!

I think that's the goal for most, for some it's so they can go practice exclusively MSK/non-op ortho. Some it's so they can do a mix, some want to be a team doc.
You learn more procedures which can increase income regardless, which is a plus.
In an ACGME fellowship, from an ACGME residency, I still practice OMT and it's a nice tool to have, but I did much more of it in residency than fellowship. Not sure how AOA fellowships are.

 

[AJFKPU]

Hellow Everyone!

I am finishing my PGY-1 year soon in IM and have spoken to my PD for away elective in sports medicine and I will get it hopefully in 2nd year. In terms of other activities, I tried approaching sports medicine physicians in the area for volunteering to cover games and doing athletic physicals but unfortunately I did not hear a positive reply from anyone. What is the best way to approach such physicians and what others activities need to be done for a good sports medicine fellowship application?
Secondly what is the best way to get involved in the Orthopedic Research in the nearby University hospital while working for your community hospital? It would be very competitive for me since most of the programs look at FM applications more favorably than IM ones.

I would appreciate any help/guidance in this regard. Thanks.

 

[TableMD]

Hellow Everyone!

I am finishing my PGY-1 year soon in IM and have spoken to my PD for away elective in sports medicine and I will get it hopefully in 2nd year. In terms of other activities, I tried approaching sports medicine physicians in the area for volunteering to cover games and doing athletic physicals but unfortunately I did not hear a positive reply from anyone. What is the best way to approach such physicians and what others activities need to be done for a good sports medicine fellowship application?
....

I would appreciate any help/guidance in Thanks.

Its unfortunate the PCSMs in your area have not gotten back to you. Here are some thoughts.

Consider reaching out to a sports program, if one is somewhat nearby. Going to local/national conferences (i.e. AMSSM) is a nice way to do that and meet local physicians. The AMSSM website has nice fellowship application (fellowship track?) document that spells out some reasonably attainable goals leading up to the application.

As an IM applicant consider some sports experiences that will also give you experiences with things you wont see in regular IM (adolescents/women w/gyn related issues, especially if athletes) making a student health clinic ideal. Thoses experiences tied to a QI project of some sort would likely help you more than a random ortho surg research project. Maybe the local ortho group has access to sports experiences as well.