A sport and exercise physician who are looking for a job in an outpatient facility may ask the recruiters, “What area of study is not related to the health and wellness field?” That’s a legitimate question. I recently sat with a young woman who was a student at a four year college, a good academic, very smart, but totally exhausted from her campus job, physical therapy, and a major in Sports Medicine. The recruiter was thrilled to find that the individual had taken an interest in the area of sports medicine and wanted to major in it.
She went on to tell me that she didn’t plan on becoming a physical therapist or a sports physician, she wanted to be a sports injury attorney. She had taken up the area of study of Counselor Education and Supervision after school, got a masters in Social Work and Counselor Education, and wanted to become a licensed nutritionist and health and wellness manager. It seemed like a great plan, until she discovered that there wasn’t a program offering her major in sports injuries and she wasn’t permitted to have any part-time work (she’d already completed the campus-based internship as a personal trainer before she pursued this) in the area of sports medicine.
I asked her, “Why are you interested in working in the area of Sports Medicine when you’re interested in becoming a physical therapist or a sports physician?” She responded, “My area of study is not related to sports medicine and it would take me too long to become either a sports physician or a physical therapist, so I chose to go the direction of being a nutritionist and health and wellness manager.” What a poor choice!
If the young lady had pursued her degree in the health and human services arena, she would have been better prepared for her job as a sports medicine or fitness manager having a minor in sports medicine. She’d also had a four-year stint as a physical therapist in a local hospital before she entered the graduate program at the University of Michigan. While she didn’t wish to major in that area of study, it wouldn’t have been hard to do. A four-year residential degree in health care with a minor in sports medicine would have put her in a great position to do just that.
The truth is, there are a great number of job opportunities for licensed sports and recreation medicine professionals in the areas of sports medicine, athletic training, and rehabilitation. However, there aren’t many job opportunities available in the health and wellness arena. Most employers don’t promote their employees to the area of sports medicine and the few that do have a very specific requirement. These requirements usually include a background in a sport or recreational facility, extensive experience with an athletic trainer, and having successfully completed a year of a graduate program in health and human services. There are also more specific jobs such as those requiring advanced level knowledge in an area of sports medicine that only medical students may qualify for.
If you’re not in the area of study that directly relates to your career goals, don’t let this discourage you. These days, there are numerous online programs that are focused on preparing individuals for the area of study that they wish to pursue. They typically have shorter programs and focus more on core academic courses, but if you have a few years of related experience under your belt, you can complete the course in two years without much difficulty. You’ll have the ability to get a very good education in a shorter period of time and be in a great position to develop yourself into a very successful healthcare professional.
