Sports medicine is absolutely exciting and attracts thousands of medical workers to the field every year. Those who love sports, and want to support those who share their passion, will enjoy dedicating themselves to sports medicine. There are six core reasons to seek out a career in sports medicine in 2023:
1. Plentiful Career Opportunities
Currently, there’s a high demand for qualified sports medicine workers. Especially when it comes to sports medicine physicians looking for work, the career field is wide open. If you’ve been looking for a less-demanding path to becoming a physician and want to work in a less chaotic environment, you’ll love this option. Be sure to carefully consider why you’re going into sports medicine, however. Many people who seek your help will be putting their passions (and sometimes careers) into your hands, after all. If you work in sports medicine, you need the passion to do so effectively and compassionately. With the right mindset, you can embrace the wide-open world of sports medicine in 2023.
2. An Exciting Work Environment
Especially for those who love sports and fitness, working as a sports medicine professional can be an absolute dream. There’s an excitement to seeing athletes achieve their optimal health that’s hard to overstate. Even when you’re dealing with patients who are dealing with tragic injuries, the hope you’ll help to inspire them will be absolutely exhilarating. You’ll need a mixture of empathy, medical knowledge, sports knowledge, passion, and intensity to succeed in a sports medicine environment. While these offices are less hectic than traditional doctor’s offices and ERs, there are still unique challenges that you’ll need to be ready to face. The more effort you put into your work, the more satisfaction you’ll get from a career in sports medicine.
3. Diverse Career Options
In addition to there being a lot of openings in sports medicine workplaces throughout the US, there are also many different types of medical careers available. Whether you’re a nurse, a physician, or something more specialized, you can search through tons of listings of unique, exciting sports medicine-centric jobs to apply for. Diversity on your resume can be incredibly useful if you want to make waves in the medical industry. The sports medicine field is a place for ambition and discovery, so if you’re looking to make a huge impact, this is a career path you can be satisfied with. Even if you’re looking for more straightforward or laid-back sports medicine job opportunities, the diversity of the field will benefit you.
4. A Tangible Communal Impact
When you’re working in sports medicine (in any of its forms), the vast majority of your patients are likely to be local athletes (of all ages). If you work near a sports college or a pro sports team, you may even have professional athletes to treat. Either way, this job will get you deeply connected to the community that you’re working with. As Americans, we love sports, and many people bond over their connection to sports, and the athletes that entertain and inspire us. By being the medical worker who keeps athletes happy and healthy, you’re doing invaluable work that will greatly strengthen your local community.
5. Flexible Scheduling
Sports medicine is notorious for having more restricted, flexible working hours. After all, sports medicine doctors outside of ER settings will rarely work hours that are not proper for their lifestyle. The fact that you can start an independent sports doctor practice in the US helps to make the dream of a flexible schedule that much more attainable. Even if you’re working for a pre-existing sports medicine operation, you’ll have more schedule flexibility than you’d get at a larger doctor’s office or ER setting. When you’re working hard, you don’t always need to spend endless hours in the office, and the people who do sports medicine professionally understand this.
6. Getting Quickly Qualified
Do you want to have a medical career, but you don’t want to spend endless years in medical school? If so, sports medicine is a great career path to choose. The qualifications needed to work in sports medicine takes much less time to obtain than in other specialized areas of medication. Those looking to start their careers early enough to easily support a family these days will love the more obtainable and fast-tracked nature of kickstarting a career in sports medicine. If you’re looking to make a huge difference in the lives of local athletes, a career in sports medicine will leave you feeling highly satisfied.
