Discover three well-known sports medicine careers, salaries, and education requirements. Prepare for your future by studying sports medicine at UWS.
Entering the sports medicine field presents a wealth of opportunities and diverse career paths. Sports medicine professionals work with athletes to prevent or recover from injuries and maintain peak fitness. With a sports medicine degree, graduates can embark on roles such as athletic trainer, strength and conditioning coach, and exercise physiologist. Each of these diverse sports medicine job opportunities includes unique responsibilities, salary prospects, and specialized education to address the needs of athletes.
What is an athletic trainer?
An athletic trainer, a common career for those with a sports medicine degree, provides preventative and rehabilitative care to athletes. They assess athletes’ complaints, diagnose muscle and bone injuries, and create personalized treatment plans to help manage the recovery process.
Depending on the extent of an injury, an athletic trainer may need to collaborate with other health care professionals, coaches, and athletes to treat their clients. This may include consulting specialists for more thorough examinations or ordering X-rays or MRIs to determine the extent of an injury. When injuries require more thorough treatment, such as surgery, an athletic trainer will consult with the athlete’s primary care physician, surgeon, or other specialists.
Athletic trainers educate athletes about how to prevent or reduce injuries. This includes teaching athletes how to train and condition without overworking their bodies. Athletic trainers also encourage healthy lifestyle choices such as rest and nutrition.
What is the projected job growth for athletic training?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the sports medicine career field for athletic training is projected to grow by 17% from 2021 to 2031*.
*Data gathered in 2023.
What degree do you need to become an athletic trainer?
More than 70% of athletic trainers pursue a master’s degree in sports medicine, athletic training, exercise science, or another related field. The Master of Science in Sports Medicine degree program at University of Western States provides learning opportunities that allow graduates to better integrate with sports medicine health care teams, providers, and athletes. Additional certification may also be required by some employers.
What is a strength and conditioning coach?
A strength and conditioning coach works to develop and implement programs that improve athletic performance while reducing the risk of injury. To do so, the coach must first conduct a fitness assessment to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an athlete to detect areas to improve on.
Strength and conditioning coaches develop personalized training plans to include purposeful sessions, proper technique, and development tracking. The focus is to put the client in the best position to achieve success and higher performance. Strength and conditioning coaches may also collaborate with the sports coach, sports medicine professionals, and other support staff to optimize the athlete’s training.
What is the projected job growth for strength and conditioning coaches?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a 19% increase in sports medicine careers for fitness training and instructing from 2021 to 2031*.
*Data gathered in 2023.
What degree do you need to become a strength and conditioning coach?
It is commonly preferred by employers to have a master’s degree in exercise-science-related fields. Strength and conditioning coaches often obtain professional certifications or attend educational conferences to stay up to date on new scientific developments. According to the National Strength and Conditioning Association, a bachelor’s degree is a minimal requirement, but strength and conditioning coaches typically are expected to hold more advanced degrees such as a master’s degree in sports medicine.
That is why UWS includes high-performance leadership and performance nutrition concentration options in the sports medicine master’s program. The UWS master’s degree and the elected concentrations help set graduates apart from other strength and conditioning coaches. We offer an in-depth and well-rounded education focusing on leadership and dietary approaches to optimize performance and recovery.
What is an exercise physiologist?
An exercise physiologist conducts fitness assessments and physiological testing to evaluate the client’s cardiovascular fitness, body composition, and exercise capacity. Once this information has been collected and analyzed, the physiologist creates and oversees an exercise program for the client with specific health conditions. These clients are typically people with cardiac rehabilitation or chronic diseases that impact their ability to optimize their health and fitness.
Exercise physiologists guide exercise recommendations, intensity levels, and progression over time to fully optimize the performance outcome. Physiologists conduct research from fitness assessments and program results that contribute to the field development of exercise physiology—specifically, the impact on human performance and health.
What is the projected job growth for an exercise physiologist?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts a 9% increase in the sports medicine career field for exercise physiology from 2021 to 2031*.
*Data gathered in 2023.
What degree do you need to become an exercise physiologist?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, exercise physiologists need at least a bachelor’s degree in health-science-related programs such as sports medicine, biology, anatomy, kinesiology, nutrition, and clinical work. However, those who hold more advanced degrees such as a master’s degree in sports medicine typically have more opportunities for career advancement and success.
University of Western States offers a Performance Nutrition concentration as part of its Sports Medicine master of science program. This nutrition-focused sports medicine degree integrates functional medicine techniques into the graduate’s education. For the betterment of athletes’ well-being, our Master of Science in Sports Medicine promotes a patient-centered approach, focusing on natural remedies for enhanced sports performance.
Pursuing an M.S. in Sports Medicine
University of Western States offers a master’s degree in sports medicine program that can enhance your knowledge and understanding of the athletic field. This degree program teaches students how to help people create and maintain a healthy and active lifestyle through health assessment, custom plan implementation, and analytical skills to gauge the results.
A successful career in sports medicine stems from a strong educational foundation. Build your career foundation here at UWS, and apply today.