Interested in Sports Medicine

[FiveRivers]

I've been very interested in sports medicine for some time now. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do when residency starts to make myself competitive for a fellowship? Most programs only have one spot. Thanks!

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[styphon]

-research, leading to presentations and hopefully a publication.
-get tight with some family med/ortho attendings for future letter of recommendations
-Get to know your local sports medicine fellowship director/staff (if there is one)

 

[galactus]

-research, leading to presentations and hopefully a publication.
-get tight with some family med/ortho attendings for future letter of recommendations
-Get to know your local sports medicine fellowship director/staff (if there is one)

All this!
Attending the national AMSSM meeting. They hold a fellowship fair during the meeting so you can meet with almost all of the programs in the country.
I would also add that you need to be good at your current specialty! I'm going to assume you're going into FM since you're posting in this forum, but I think the most important part that's often overlooked by some is that you have to be a good family doc. If you're struggling as a resident then why would we take you as a fellow. Do well in residency, get to know your local sports medicine physicians (hopefully you have one on faculty), and try to do as much event coverage as possible (HS sporting events, local half/full marathons, rodeo, etc)

 

[jm192]

All this!
Attending the national AMSSM meeting. They hold a fellowship fair during the meeting so you can meet with almost all of the programs in the country.
I would also add that you need to be good at your current specialty! I'm going to assume you're going into FM since you're posting in this forum, but I think the most important part that's often overlooked by some is that you have to be a good family doc. If you're struggling as a resident then why would we take you as a fellow. Do well in residency, get to know your local sports medicine physicians (hopefully you have one on faculty), and try to do as much event coverage as possible (HS sporting events, local half/full marathons, rodeo, etc)

I'm interested as well, but there are no sports medicine in my area. (I shadowed one a decent bit in HS/College.)

Any advice on how to get in on covering these events?
Are you typically flying solo as a resident? And if so, how does one typically prepare?

 

[galactus]

I'm interested as well, but there are no sports medicine in my area. (I shadowed one a decent bit in HS/College.)

Any advice on how to get in on covering these events?
Are you typically flying solo as a resident? And if so, how does one typically prepare?

In a FM residency, SM is a required rotation in the curriculum, so the best way is to see what your residency provides in terms of SM/ortho. If you don't have a PCSM on faculty then possible a local ortho guy that covers sports would be your next best bet. Another option is doing an away rotation at a sports med fellowship.

 

[brats800]

Any advice on how to get in on covering these events?
Are you typically flying solo as a resident? And if so, how does one typically prepare?

1) If you want to get started with sports med coverage, think beyond High School / College sports. Are there any local sporting events (5k races, triathlons, summer camps, etc). These are often looking for volunteer coverage. Check out their websites and email / sign up.
2) Unlikely that you'd be solo-covering as a resident. When I cover as an attending, I sometimes have residents but they are always under my supervision.

 

[jm192]

Thanks guys!!

 

[todo]

haven't had any hits in IM forum (which is my program). Looking for some #'s about IMG's in sports medicine, if anyone has experience wit this. Can't find any NRMP figures. thanks

 

[Medicine16]

You can look at the NRMP fellowship match data results. The latest data from 2014 (table 2) shows that 36 IMGs matched into a possible 206 spots in sports medicine (out of these 32 were US IMGs, and 4 were non-US IMGs). It's a surprisingly competitive fellowship, with only 109/158 US allopathic medical graduate applicants (69%) matching, most likely due to the limited number of spots.

 

[flyingfastr]

Do FM/SM docs get any training in intervention pain like the PMR guys do? Can an FP/SP get involved with that/get extra training if interested? For example spinal cortisone shots for athletes etc...

 

[galactus]

Do FM/SM docs get any training in intervention pain like the PMR guys do? Can an FP/SP get involved with that/get extra training if interested? For example spinal cortisone shots for athletes etc...

That's program dependent, but yes there are SM fellowships there that train their fellows to do those procedures.

 

[jm192]

In an interesting turn of events, I broke my hand today and met with a PT for a cast. Their office apparently covers all of the local teams. So, issue #1 resolved.

 

[jm192]

Anyone with any tips for getting involved with research, presentations, publications?

 

[galactus]

Anyone with any tips for getting involved with research, presentations, publications?

If for some point during residency you've seen an interesting sports medicine case, write a case abstract and submit it to AMSSM!
Do a presentation about SM related issues to the residents.
Do a sports medicine related journal club and put it on your CV
maybe someone threw out a SM related issue on FPIN. Go answer it!
When you do your SM rotation, ask if they are doing any research or case study that you can help with.
Plenty of ways dude, just be proactive!

 

[MichDoc89]

Is anybody planning to go to any SM conferences this year? I was looking at the Advanced Team Physician Course in Tampa this December, and also the ACSM annual meeting in San Diego this May. Any thoughts on these two conferences? I am a first year resident, is it worth going to conferences my intern year?

 

[galactus]

Is anybody planning to go to any SM conferences this year? I was looking at the Advanced Team Physician Course in Tampa this December, and also the ACSM annual meeting in San Diego this May. Any thoughts on these two conferences? I am a first year resident, is it worth going to conferences my intern year?

Yes. If you want your money's worth I would go to AMSSM instead. ACSM is alright, and it's multidisciplinary so a good majority of the lectures aren't really tailored for MD's, (PT's, AT students, PhD's, etc all attend). AMSSM holds relevant lectures PLUS a fellowship fair from all SM programs so it's a great way to know what's out there.

 

[PMRMD2B]

The program I just rotated with said almost all their past fellows were chief residents who showed high interest in sports medicine throughout residency. Many primary care programs with SM fellowships tend to pull from their own program, since they only have one spot.

As to the pain training, I agree with it being program dependent. The program I was at affiliated with a top 20 Div I college football team (and other athletics) and there was always a 4th or 5th year ortho from a neighboring program involved as well. They injected just about everything, except spine. Those were normally referred to pain management and done under flouro.

Listening to the director on the phone with another director discussing their candidates, they liked people who were very active in sports throughout their residency, ie. doing sports physicals, side line coverage for various sports, and misc. sporting events as noted above.