How to Become a Sports Medicine MD
Sports medicine M.D.s are doctors who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of injury and ill health associated with sports or exercise. Sports medicine is a subspecialty in medicine, so to become a sports medicine specialist involves going to medical school and becoming a doctor, then going through residency and fellowship training.
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Instructions
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Obtain an undergraduate degree. Medical schools tend to like students who are well-grounded, so it does not matter what your major is as long as you have taken the required classes in physics, chemistry, biology and math.
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Apply to medical school. Getting into medical school is very competitive, so apply to as many schools with varying degrees of entry difficulty as you can.
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Survive medical school and become a doctor. Once you cross this hurdle, you have handled the most difficult part.
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Begin your residency training. Sports medicine is an integrated field, combining the work of specialists in primary care, surgery, orthopedics, emergency medicine, psychology, physiotherapy, nutrition and others. Doctors aspiring to become sports medicine specialists start with a residency program in emergency medicine, family medicine, orthopedics, pediatrics, internal medicine or another related residency program. Once you complete your residency and become board certified in your chosen specialty, you are ready for subspecialization in sports medicine.
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Enroll in a sports medicine subspecialty fellowship program. Most sports fellowship programs are a year long. On completion of the program, you can then take the sports medicine subspecialty certification examination.
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