Sports Medicine

Sports Medicine doctors are physicians who specialize further in sports medicine. It may also be a sub-specialty following a specialisation such as 

psychiatry

 or

orthopaedic surgery

. Specialising in the treatment of athletes and other physically active individuals, sports medicine physicians have extensive education in

musculoskeletal medicine

and treat injuries such as muscle, ligament, tendon and bone problems, but may also treat chronic illnesses that can affect physical performance, such as asthma and diabetes. They also advise on managing and preventing injuries and sports nutrition. In addition team physicians working in elite sports often play a role in

performance medicine

, whereby an athletes’ physiology is monitored, and aberrations corrected, in order to achieve peak physical performance.

Exercise Medicine

covers the role of physical activity in the treatment and prevention of illness.