I was interested in hearing about anyones experience who has gone on to do a sports med fellowship after em. Do people still work in the ER primarily and then have clinic for a day or two a week or is it primarily sports medicine. Obviously this can vary from person to person, but I just wanted to know if there was a general structure for someone who has completed this training.
I am still in fellowship but I signed a job with an EM group. The group is big enough that they support the interests of their docs. One of them has recently opened a sports med clinic at her hospital. I will likely do 1/2-1 day of clinic there per week and work 30hrs of EM/wk(considered full time average 3 shifts/wk). I interviewed with three EM groups total and each was supportive in the pursuit of developing sports. Another guy I know signed with an ortho group full time and will do EM shifts on the side. Two others do EM and a lot of mass event medical direction which brings publicity to their hospital- they don't want the committment of a clinic. Another does EM and US Soccer traveling abroad with the team sometimes, another EM and US Figure skating.
The field is young, and there are only a handful of EM/Sports docs out there meaning there is no general structure, its what you make of it/stumble upon. Opportunities are out there to combine both, whether its clinic, team game coverage, team training room coverage, mass events, occ med, etc.
I don't agree with those who say FP residency lends itself better to a sports medicine fellowship. My co-fellow is FM and we each bring different things to the table. In fellowship we EM folks definitely have to learn how to run continuity clinic and have to care about what is causing the knee pain even though its not broken. That comes with the territory- you do a sports fellowship because you have an interest in how to manage MSK issues and other sports issues beyond the emergent treatment. I personally have less interest(and admittedly less skill) in managing the diabetic athlete or other chronic medical issues(though I could if I had the desire) and will tailor my practice more to MSK complaints.
All in all its a young field with lots of room for growth. I have met several EM docs who have been out only for a few years telling me what a smart move it is to do a fellowship and how they wish they would have. Who knows what I will end up doing, but having options is nice. For now I want to continue to develop skills in both for the first few years until I figure out what the right balance is or if I just want to go in one direction.
