Pre physical therapy vs exercise science vs athletic training

[phenom832]

Which major for sports medicine

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[cliffhuxtableDO]

it doesn't matter. sports medicine is a fellowship and is a long ways away from a pre-med. choose the major you enjoy. personally, i was ExSci and I loved it.

 

[phenom832]

it doesn't matter. sports medicine is a fellowship and is a long ways away from a pre-med. choose the major you enjoy. personally, i was ExSci and I loved it.

what did you like about it

 

[Forthegood]

You are a LONG way away from sports medicine. We are talking 4 years of UG, 4 years of Med, 3-5 years of residency (maybe gen surg or ortho) then 1-2 year fellowship in sports med. And you're going to have to be an allstar every step of the way to get there.

Do yourself a favor and do what Cliff said. At all times try to be doing something you love, not just as a means to an end. Life is to short to jump through hoops to get to more hoops... unless you just love jumping through hoops.

 

[venacontracta]

You are a LONG way away from sports medicine. We are talking 4 years of UG, 4 years of Med, 3-5 years of residency (maybe gen surg or ortho) then 1-2 year fellowship in sports med. And you're going to have to be an allstar every step of the way to get there.

+1

Major in whatever major you are most passionate about.

If you refuse to do that, choose a major which will prepare you the best for the next step, which is medical school, not anything sports-medicine related. My ex-gf was an athletic training major, and from the ridiculous simplicity of many of her courses, I'm pretty sure that a tough science major will give you more useful background information than athletic training will. On the other hand, AT does give you quite a bit of hands-on experience...

 

[dani042]

I am currently a OMS II and was an Athletic Training/Physical Ed. major. "Ridiculous simplicity" may have described some of the beginner classes, but definetly not Anatomy & Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology, and all the advanced Athletic Training courses. Not to mention all the pre-reqs for medical school.

I HATE when people think that an AT major is pud. I came into medical school on the same par as all the dime a dozen Bio/Chem/etc majors. In fact, I had FAR more clinical/hands on experience than a lot of them. I have never felt unable to complete any of my med school coursework due to not having a background in the hard sciences.

If you want to do sports med, I would say Exercise Science or AT would be your best bet if you don't want to go into the hard sciences. It never hurts to start gaining experience in the field you want to pursue. My background has enabled me to have a job as a sideline medicine provider for football games this fall, which only helps my future residency/fellowship application.

Sports medicine is a fellowship that you can obtain after finishing a residency in: FP, ER, Ortho, PM&R, IM, Peds, just an fyi.

+1

Major in whatever major you are most passionate about.

If you refuse to do that, choose a major which will prepare you the best for the next step, which is medical school, not anything sports-medicine related. My ex-gf was an athletic training major, and from the ridiculous simplicity of many of her courses, I'm pretty sure that a tough science major will give you more useful background information than athletic training will. On the other hand, AT does give you quite a bit of hands-on experience...

 

[IHeartNerds]

I am currently a OMS II and was an Athletic Training/Physical Ed. major. "Ridiculous simplicity" may have described some of the beginner classes, but definetly not Anatomy & Physiology, Exercise Physiology, Kinesiology, and all the advanced Athletic Training courses. Not to mention all the pre-reqs for medical school.

i'm not one to usually bust out the ruler, but i'm gonna have to say that quantum chemistry and multivariate calc for my chemistry major were probably harder than exercise physiology.

nothing you learn in undergrad will be useful in residency/fellowship, except how to talk to other human beings and possibly, how to write. major in whatever you want.

 

[fahimaz7]

Adcom's don't care what you major in. Just make sure you have a good GPA (and do well in the pre-req classes), and you should be fine!

Have you thought about getting a DPT? My wife is in that program, and a lot of people in her program had those degree's in undergrad. She was pre-med as well, and couldn't be happier in the DPT program.

Food for thought.