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How much education is needed for a career in sports medicine?

I like the physical therapy, mental, and chemistry part of sports medicine. I'm in 11th grade on my way to college. do I need a 2-year degree or 4-year degree? or should I be trying to get into a medical school?

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Emmawilson’s Answer

There are lots of different careers if you are interested in sports medicine, and the amount of schooling really differs. This ranges from an athletic trainer who interacts with the athletes on a daily basis to the fully trained doctor who specializes in orthopedic surgery or rehabilitation.


Here's a list in order of number of years of schooling:


Personal trainer, athletic trainer or exercise instructor: 2 year associates degree


Physical therapist: 4 year bachelor's degree + 1-2 masters degree from an accredited physical therapy program (there are over 200 in the US)


Researcher in sports medicine: 4 year bachelor's degree + 4-6 year PhD


Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.): 4 year bachelor's degree + 4 year medical school + 3-5 years of residency.


So, depending on what you want to do, it can range from 2 more years of education (after high school) to 13 more years of education (after high school). You should think about what you enjoy, what you are good at (e.g., science), and the financial aspect.
Thank you comment icon By the way, it is implied that by the "financial aspect", the jobs that take more years of schooling pay more, in fact much more so than the extra several years would seem to indicate. So if you are not sure which one you want to do, consider taking as much schooling as you can handle because the payoff (literally!) will be worth it. Having said that if you don't want to be an MD or PhD that's totally okay too... Conor Myhrvold
Thank you comment icon Thank you for this anwser Isaac
Thank you comment icon Thanks for the comment Connor Ahnahni
Thank you comment icon Thank you! Byron
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Willy’s Answer

There are a lot of options you can take if you want to practice in sports medicine. You can start by taking a course in athletic training or physical therapy assistant degree then later on you can think about pursuing a higher degree program related to sports medicine including physical therapy or becoming a doctor in sports medicine. There are a lot of career involved in sports medicine and it really depends on where you want to pursue. Then later on, you can decide how you can get into sports medicine.Even for physical therapist, we still have to become certified in sports medicine before we can work or pursue a career in this field.
Thank you comment icon Hi Willy! Thank you so much for the amazing answer you provided to Agraham above! I had a few follow up questions I wanted to ask you out of curiosity: 1. Could you talk a little bit more about your own personal path in physical therapy? How much schooling did you do/where did you receive your education? 2. What are some next steps one might take in order to pursue a career in sports medicine? Any online journals/classes one should look into? Thank you so much in advance! Best, David David Ohta COACH
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