Christy Said:

Major involving sports medicine and physical therapy?

We Answered:

Yes, some schools actually have sports medicine degrees. Physical therapy is also a degree you can go for, but it is usually separate from sports med. My alma mater had both areas of study. Is there any particular area of the country you are looking at?

Perry Said:

sports therapy or physical therapy?

We Answered:

Sports therapy sounds more like a branch of kinesiology;study of human movement, which isn't a subject that alone gets you a job in the field your looking for. I would recommend physical therapy, but I suggest you ask this in the University section.

Carole Said:

Thinking of majoring in Physical Therapy for sports medicine?

We Answered:

Physical therapy is either a master's or doctorate level degree. It takes about 6-7 years to complete.

In 2005, about 50% of PTs were earning between $50-70,000 a year. Your salary will depend on where you live, your setting and any specialty certifications you might hold. Most PTs work M-F with occasional weekends, especially if you are affiliated with a hospital or rehab center. Those working in an inpatient setting have more "typical 9-5 hours" but those working in the outpatient setting almost always have to work at least a couple evenings a week. If you plan to become a "sports" physical therapist, you will most likely be working in an outpatient clinic in a private or physician owned clinic.

To specialize in sports physical therapy, you must first get a degree in "regular" physical therapy. You can go to the education section of the APTA website at: http://www.apta.org to get a list of accredited PT programs.

Sports medicine and orthopedic physical therapy are both specialty certifications recognized by the APTA. They are similar in the terms that they both work on patients with orthopedically related problems (joints, injuries, surgeries, etc), but the sports specialty is more focused on rehabiliation of the athlete, while "orthopedic" physical therapy can focus on the athlete and the non-athletic population.

They are both forms of physical therapy, and these are specialty certifications that you can only sit for once you have been a PT for at least 2 years, complete the required continuing education and sat for the credentialing examination.

...in otherwords, "sports therapy" and "orthopedic therapy" are both forms of physical therapy, but not all physical therapy is "sports" or "orthopedically" realated (there are several specialties).

Dianne Said:

How much money could I intend on making if I get a job that has to do with Physical Therapy or Sports Science?

We Answered:

They are very different things. Yes, some PT do work with athletes, many do not. I am not sure what is sports science. visit www.apta.org and look under education/student resources. There is a ton of information.

Best wishes.

Dwayne Said:

Sports medicine? Physical therapy? What would I have to go through to become a physical therapist?

We Answered:

When you say sports medicine, that can imply a couple different things. First is a sports medicine phsyician. This is a medical doctor who has completed a board specialty usually first in family medicine and then returns for another in sports med. They are physicians who specialize in the MEDICAL treatment of athletes. This would require medical school (8 years) and the two residencies (another 4 years?)

Then there is a physical therapist with a certification in sports medicine. To do this, you must first become a physical therapist which is either a master's or doctorate level program (you can do either) which takes 6-7 years. Then after you've been in the field, you can apply for a board speciality by sitting for the sports medicine examination. You would then become a physical therapist who specializes in the PHYSICAL treatment of athletes. This usually takes an additional two years of study.

If you want to go the physical therapy route, I suggest you go to the APTA website at: http://www.apta.org and go to the educational programs section. The have a great section for prospective students as well as a list of accredited PT programs.

Angel Said:

is physical therapy connected to sports medicene?

We Answered:

sports is a subspecialty of PT. PT who work in orthopedics treat sports injuries as part of their case load. It is not always the elite athlete but the weekend warrior. There are PTs who work with proffessional athletes and olympic athletes but those jobs are very difficulty to get into. If you are truly intersted in sports meds, you probably want to get your BS in ATC while making sure you get your pre reqs completed. When you are picking clinical interships, you would pick one in sports medicine and perform you research project in sports.

Visit www.apta.org under the education tab.