Sports team doctors

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mohad

mohad

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I have a question. I was watching TV and LeBron's cramp game was brought up. I remember a few guys going out and putting ice on his legs and whatnot, and I was wondering how you would go about being a physician for a sports team. Specifically, what specialty is common/helpful for pursuing a career like that.
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mohad said:
I have a question. I was watching TV and LeBron's cramp game was brought up. I remember a few guys going out and putting ice on his legs and whatnot, and I was wondering how you would go about being a physician for a sports team. Specifically, what specialty is common/helpful for pursuing a career like that.
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Probably ortho or sports medicine...

Being a ringside doctor would be pretty neat, imo; it's something I've considered.
 
I'm really interested in becoming a team physician, too, but I don't think there are many (if any) females in this small profession. The majority of pro team physicians tend to be orthopods, although some are EM or FM with a sports medicine fellowship. I think the best way might to start out at the college level? I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows, though.
 
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Charles Darwin said:
Probably ortho or sports medicine...
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This is on point. Being a team physician for a professional sports organization is, from what I understand, a very prestigious position. I know a doc who is the team orthopod for an NFL squad. His resume includes: Hopkins for med school, residency at Harvard, and a research fellowship at the NIH. I've met with another doc who was the team physician for an MLS squad, and while his stats were a little less impressive, he still had a stellar CV.
From the brief conversation I had with the MLS doc, his duties were pretty awesome. He had to be at training camp and sat on the sidelines for every home game, but he also had a practice on the side.
 
One of my interviewers did just that at one point in his career, he's an orthopedic surgeon.
 
mohad said:
I have a question. I was watching TV and LeBron's cramp game was brought up. I remember a few guys going out and putting ice on his legs and whatnot, and I was wondering how you would go about being a physician for a sports team. Specifically, what specialty is common/helpful for pursuing a career like that.
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Those people were probably PTs.
 
hiyaman said:
Those people were probably PTs.
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I figured, but still they would have doctors on call too for each team. I just was wondering how you could become a part of the medical staff of a team when going through med school. I do know that pedigree is important though, and it makes sense why.
 
Sports medicine. But good luck getting to work for a team.
 
This is part of the reason I'm considering specialties like pm&r, sports medicine, and EM. Would definitely be cool!
 
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TheMightySmiter said:
I'm really interested in becoming a team physician, too, but I don't think there are many (if any) females in this small profession. The majority of pro team physicians tend to be orthopods, although some are EM or FM with a sports medicine fellowship. I think the best way might to start out at the college level? I'd be interested to hear from someone who knows, though.
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I am not 100%, but I have heard and read if you want to break into the position, you have to pay for it. The reason being the added prestige is a "bonus" to you and you have to pay to join the team. Granted, I am no expert, but I have read about it being this way.

btw, itd probably be a good idea to get experience with your highschool sports teams, college teams, etc.

Nonetheless, it would be pretty awesome, and I would love to do a it.

Please anyone with experience chime in.
 
I know a doctor who was a team physician for UW-Madison football. Ortho with a Sports Med fellowship.
 
Isn't there much more risk associated with being a doctor for big name athletes? What if you mess something up and the athlete cant play for some big game, then not only does he hate you, but so do alllllll of his/her fans. :scared:
 
typicalindian said:
Isn't there much more risk associated with being a doctor for big name athletes? What if you mess something up and the athlete cant play for some big game, then not only does he hate you, but so do alllllll of his/her fans. :scared:
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Reminds me of the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode, with Shaq.

I've never actually heard of people getting mad at a doctor for messing up on an athlete though. Does that happen often?
 
Here's an interesting article from the Philadelphia Inquirer from 2009 that talkes about Jack McPhilemy, DO - the 76ers doctor (he's an orthopod). Talks about his typical day but also how he became the team physician

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/sixers/20090225_For_76ers__there_s_always_a_doctor_in_the_house.html


Going through my Alumni Magazine (disclaimer: I'm a PCOM graduate), there's also Darren McAuley, DO who is a physician for the Philadelphia Phillies (did family community medicine then a sports medicine fellowship at St Joseph Hospital in Reading, where he worked for the Reading Phillies, the AA francise of the Philadelphia Phillies. When there was an opening with the Philadelphia Phillies, he was recommended by several ballplayers)

There are a few more but they don't go into details on how they became team physicians (eg Mitchel Storey with the Seattle Mariners)
 
hiyaman said:
Those people were probably PTs.
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More likely athletic trainers. I majored in athletic training/sports medicine and worked with multiple sports organizations at many different levels (professional, collegiate, club). I worked along many sports med fellows and attending physicians. Each sports medicine team is organized a little differently but as other mentioned the team physicians were usually either ortho or FM/IM with a sports medicine fellowship under their belt. The organizations that utilized non orthos still had an ortho affiliated with them even if they weren't necessarily labeled the team doc.

Nice article group_theory. One of my letters of rec is from a DO ortho who is a team doc and is at the Olympics right now.
 
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davidbm95 said:
Sports medicine. But good luck getting to work for a team.
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Usually you don't actually work for the team, you work as an orthopedic surgeon at a local hospital that is the "official hospital" of the team. So you would want to become an orthopod with a subspecialty related to sports injuries, and get a job with these hospitals ( which often care for multiple regional teams -- ie the same group may handle the local NFL, soccer and arena football team). Each game just one or two physicians from that staff (which may be large) go to the games. Most of the time it's orthopedists, although with all the concussion issues arising, neurologists are starting to be enlisted for NFL games as well. However many people are "on call" for each game and do not get to attend the game -- if a big star tears up his leg, there will be doctors getting things ready at the OR and radiologists specifically on call coming in to read his MRI. So don't kid yourself that this is primarily an "in the stadium" kind if job. If your group throws you a bone you might be in the stadium once every few months. (Obviously this depends on the number of games in a season -- baseball will be more, football less). And for every athlete you treat, you are going to be working on a couple hundred weekend warriors who tore their ACL just by getting out of bed funny.
 
I would trade my soul in if I could be team doc for an English premier team... specifically Man Utd 😎:laugh:
 
herp derpy derp
 
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mohad said:
I have a question. I was watching TV and LeBron's cramp game was brought up. I remember a few guys going out and putting ice on his legs and whatnot, and I was wondering how you would go about being a physician for a sports team. Specifically, what specialty is common/helpful for pursuing a career like that.
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Orthopedics, PM&R, or some other sports medicine concentration. Then you need to have a lot of money to bid for the right to be the team physician.
 
i wanna be
sam_cassell_hump.jpg
 
the sports teams need ophtho's too 😉

I've heard from people who used to do it that it becomes a job after a while and isn't as enjoyable as you'd imagine.
 
thesauce said:
Orthopedics, PM&R, or some other sports medicine concentration. Then you need to have a lot of money to bid for the right to be the team physician.
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wait, you have to bid to be on the team? that's kind of ironic and depressing at the same time.
 
if you are good enough at what you do as a physician, those NFLMLBMLSNBA peons will be begging for an appointment
 
xanthomondo said:
the sports teams need ophtho's too 😉

I've heard from people who used to do it that it becomes a job after a while and isn't as enjoyable as you'd imagine.
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whats the reason. I want to be a doc for UFC
 
mcatdestroyer said:
whats the reason. I want to be a doc for UFC
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Working with sports teams just isn't as glamorous as you would think. Granted this is a personal opinion. It is exciting in the beginning but the hype wears off and it just becomes a job. The people I have seen who enjoy it the most are young females that get lots of attention from the athletes and also dudes that are super fan boys. The hours are funky and long. Some of the athletes are prima donnas...some are really cool tho (side note: the most elite/famous players are usually the coolest in my experience.. its the "no name" dudes that give the most tude). Part I enjoyed the most was all the free gear/apparal you get :banana:


In regards to the UFC, do you train? I actually have a connection to a higher up the UFC (vice president) through my professional network. Do you have any combat sport medical experience...for instance I have acted as coner/cut man for people on my muay thai team when I was living in Thailand. You might be able to get some sort of intern gig.
 
Mr Kenobi said:
Working with sports teams just isn't as glamorous as you would think. Granted this is a personal opinion. It is exciting in the beginning but the hype wears off and it just becomes a job. The people I have seen who enjoy it the most are young females that get lots of attention from the athletes and also dudes that are super fan boys. The hours are funky and long. Some of the athletes are prima donnas...some are really cool tho (side note: the most elite/famous players are usually the coolest in my experience.. its the "no name" dudes that give the most tude). Part I enjoyed the most was all the free gear/apparal you get :banana:


In regards to the UFC, do you train? I actually have a connection to a higher up the UFC (vice president) through my professional network. Do you have any combat sport medical experience...for instance I have acted as coner/cut man for people on my muay thai team when I was living in Thailand. You might be able to get some sort of intern gig.
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I expect it to be a job, just like any other setting. I just think it would be a really cool environment to work in though. I've read around and it seems like a lot of other team docs balance a practice or academic work with the team, so I think it would be good to have a change of pace between a team and other patients. But who knows if I'll be interested in this when I go through school. There's so much more out there that I could get interested in.
 
mohad said:
I expect it to be a job, just like any other setting. I just think it would be a really cool environment to work in though. I've read around and it seems like a lot of other team docs balance a practice or academic work with the team, so I think it would be good to have a change of pace between a team and other patients. But who knows if I'll be interested in this when I go through school. There's so much more out there that I could get interested in.
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I hear ya..I was just trying to say that when I got involved with sports med, it wasn't all I thought is was cracked up to be before I started. Many people who have never worked in the field have a glamorized idea of what it will be like. I've heard this echoed by many of my mentors. Don't get me wrong I love sports medicine...just the cool factor wore off quickly. To each their own I guess.
 
Mr Kenobi said:
I hear ya..I was just trying to say that when I got involved with sports med, it wasn't all I thought is was cracked up to be before I started. Many people who have never worked in the field have a glamorized idea of what it will be like. I've heard this echoed by many of my mentors. Don't get me wrong I love sports medicine...just the cool factor wore off quickly. To each their own I guess.
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i can totally understand that, especially since i don't have any experience with it. I probably do have this glamorized view of the profession but i still think it would be cool for me to investigate it further to see what it really is about.
 
MedPR said:
This is part of the reason I'm considering specialties like pm&r, sports medicine, and EM. Would definitely be cool!
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Don't pick a specialty on the hopes of working for a pro team. 99.9% of orthopedic surgeons don't...and just becoming an orthopedic surgeon is tough enough...oh and every NFL and NBA doc I've ever met or looked up is IVY league
 
Ironmandoc said:
Don't pick a specialty on the hopes of working for a pro team. 99.9% of orthopedic surgeons don't...and just becoming an orthopedic surgeon is tough enough...oh and every NFL and NBA doc I've ever met or looked up is IVY league
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looks like I'm screwed. I didn't even bother applying to any ivies 🙁
 
Ironmandoc said:
Don't pick a specialty on the hopes of working for a pro team. 99.9% of orthopedic surgeons don't...and just becoming an orthopedic surgeon is tough enough...oh and every NFL and NBA doc I've ever met or looked up is IVY league
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No doubt getting a position with a team in either one of those organizations is difficult. But I haven't had that experience...I worked with the team doc and previous team docs for the SD Chargers and non of them were IVY league..at least for med school...some for undergrad tho. Also, someone posted about the team doc for the Philly 76ers earlier in this thread who was not ivy league either...was actually DO.
 
mohad said:
wait, you have to bid to be on the team? that's kind of ironic and depressing at the same time.
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You aren't exactly on the team (i.e. you aren't employed by the Miami Heat, etc), but yes, generally the physician pays the team for the notoriety and revenue of being recognized as the team's physician in hopes that it will bring more patients to the practice.
 
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Ironmandoc said:
Don't pick a specialty on the hopes of working for a pro team. 99.9% of orthopedic surgeons don't...and just becoming an orthopedic surgeon is tough enough...oh and every NFL and NBA doc I've ever met or looked up is IVY league
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Not hardly. The team doc for the Phoenix suns, Phoenix mercury, and Phoenix ballet company is a DO and an administrator at ATSU-SOMA. He was FM trained with a Sports Med fellowship. I think the AZ Cardinals doc. is a DO too.
 
Ironmandoc said:
...oh and every NFL and NBA doc I've ever met or looked up is IVY league
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This isn't accurate. However again you usually are just one of many orthopedists working at a hospital that is the "official hospital of " the team. Probably paid a lot for that marketing privilege, as was suggested above. And most of the orthopedists in that group won't get to go to many of the games or work on the big stars. You will spend 99% of your time working on slugs who tear up their ACL just picking up the trash. So yeah, I wouldnt pine to be a team doctor because there's really few such people -- these days you would be one of the unnamed many who work on athletes at a big discount because it's good marketing for the actual paying customer who is a physical train wreck, who pays you top dollar because he wants the same doctor as his favorite player.
 
Bump. Is there any way to actually try to break into the field? I mean should one be trying to do some form of sports med in college?

I've seen a optho market that they are the official eye doc of the canucks.
 
D0CTORX said:
Bump. Is there any way to actually try to break into the field? I mean should one be trying to do some form of sports med in college?

I've seen a optho market that they are the official eye doc of the canucks.
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I imagine it is a mix of 4 factors to becoming the big team's doc:

Specialty/fellowship
Your reputation
Who you know
Luck

...notice that "choice of college major/EC's" are not on that list.

Rest easy and major in/spend time on what you like most.
 
If you enjoy working with athletes, get involved with your local club or high school.

There are rugby clubs throughout the USA who are begging to have Ortho's on their sideline, or any medical professional for that matter.

I know a lot of the guys on my club aren't insured and just having a cash deal to see certain specialists is a great blessing for them.

You don't need to be associated with professional athletes to enjoy sports medicine.
 
Blais said:
I imagine it is a mix of 4 factors to becoming the big team's doc:

Specialty/fellowship
Your reputation
Who you know
Luck

...notice that "choice of college major/EC's" are not on that list.

Rest easy and major in/spend time on what you like most.
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Those are important as far as joining a practice who already has a contract with a team. Setting up an affiliation with a team yourself is simply a matter of out-bidding the other practices - and it won't be cheap.
 
I am acquainted with one of the team doctors for the Bruins and Red Sox...according to him it's basically luck. You have to be a part of a prestigious sports medicine practice and be lucky enough that you know the team management. Also, because management is constantly in flux, it's not necessarily a gig you can get long term. When new management for the team comes in, basically the entire staff for the old management team(including the docs) is out.
 
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