sports medicine and PM&R

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rehab_sports_dr

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I just came back from the American College of Sports Medicine meeting, and I felt invigorated about the role that PM&R plays in the future of sports medicine.

One thing that I love about the meeting is that it is not just physiatrists- amongst clinicians, family practice docs and pediatricians were more common, and there were also many PhD researchers there as well.

My colleagues and I left the meeting feeling very comfortable about our competence in sports medicine. While there are areas where our knowledge base may lag behind that of other practitioners (e.g., cardiac, pulmonary, or endocrine issues in athletes), I felt this was more than compensated by our vast training in musculoskeletal medicine, tbi, sci, orthoses, nerve injuries, etc.

There were many occasions where I realized that knowledge I took for granted was NOT common knowledge amongst other sports medicine clinicians. For example:

1. The case I presented was about a young athlete with recurrent concussions. Some other physicians were impressed with our "innovative" use of modafinil for post-concussive fatigue or working up the cause for her concussions. It made me proud of our fields ability to see the big picture.
2. A very well regarded lecturer was unaware that, when diagnosing carpal tunnel syndrome, electrodiagnosis was preferred to a lidocaine injection.
3. My fellow residents and I found ourselves teaching some attendings relatively basic physical examination maneuvers that are a standard part of the PASSOR curriculum.

Bottom line- I left the meeting confident about my ability as a physiatrist to be a complete sports medicine physicians.

The meeting is fantastic, btw. I would highly encourage medical students or residents interested in sports medicine to attend next year (in New Orleans). I would also consider becoming involved in one of the regional chapters:

http://www.acsm.org/Content/NavigationMenu/MemberServices/Regional_Chapters/Reg_Chapter_main.htm

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I was really trying to go but it was too expensive and I found out about it too late. I am interested in sports medicine also but more interested in sports specific injuries. In what ways do you think that PASSOR training vs. Primary care sports fellowship differ?
 
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