What sports physician actually do

[Bamboula22]

Hi, i´m reading a lot of thread here and i’m still wondering what family doctor with a fellowship in sport can actually do to treat msk pathology. Because I understand they don’t do surgery and I don’t think they do the maneuvers doing by the physiotherapist. So what are their role between ortho and pt? Are they doing some stuff like msk echo, infiltration or others?

thanks

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[galactus]

~ 80%+ of msk/sports medicine is non-operative. MSK is also one of the most common chief complaints in an ambulatory setting clinic. If a patient breaks a foot and needs a walking boot (non-op), or having patellofemoral or ankle sprains, they don't need a surgeon to treat any of that lol.
We also learn (some) maneuvers, understand rehab and return to play from injury.
Sports medicine isn't just muscles and bone. It's athletic performance, nutrition, endurance performance, concussion evaluation, regenerative medicine, diagnostic and therapeutic US.
We do school physicals, exercise prescriptions for people with comorbidities, cardiac screening, and for those that take care of pros, we understanding the drug doping rules for the sport(s) that we cover.

At the elite level, we are medical directors for FIFA, USOPC, and other professional teams throughout the world . Coronavirus fears for the olympics? Being closely monitored by the sports medical staff, not the orthopedic staff.

We work with our orthopedic colleagues and provide our own skill sets to athletes. At the pro/college level there's usually a head orthopedist and head medical doctor.

Hope that answers your questions!

 

[Bamboula22]

~ 80%+ of msk/sports medicine is non-operative. MSK is also one of the most common chief complaints in an ambulatory setting clinic. If a patient breaks a foot and needs a walking boot (non-op), or having patellofemoral or ankle sprains, they don't need a surgeon to treat any of that lol.
We also learn (some) maneuvers, understand rehab and return to play from injury.

Thanks a lot for your answer!

Very interesting to see how broad problem sports doctors are facing. But just to be sure about the non operative msk injury, I'm still not sure what kind of treatment sports doctor can do that physiotherapist or chiroprator can't.

thank you again!

 

[galactus]

Thanks a lot for your answer!

Very interesting to see how broad problem sports doctors are facing. But just to be sure about the non operative msk injury, I'm still not sure what kind of treatment sports doctor can do that physiotherapist or chiroprator can't.

thank you again!

Well for one thing we can prescribe medications. We are trained in diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound, and we do procedures (casting, joint injections, suturing lacerations, etc). My PT and chiro colleagues aren't trained for that. Medical clearances for sports is also done by a doctor.
Also depending on some states, you can't see PT without a referral from a doctor.

 

[Synophrys]

We do a lot of sideline medicine, diagnostic ultrasound, procedural stuff, performance optimization, and treating acute/chronic MSK pathology.

check out this website for a gallery of some fun stuff we do -

Sports Medicine Gallery – Long Beach Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program

memorialfamilymedicine.org

 

[Synophrys]

Christian Hosoi stopped in the other day to help me teach our residents about skateboarding injuries. I guess to further drive the point home, as a sports med doc you build awareness, encourage injury prevention, and increase the stoke. It is always a plus when your day job is amplified by the people you work with.