Studies & Degrees in Sports Medicine
Sports Medicine Study Programs
Sports medicine, often called sport and exercise medicine, deals with the health of people who are physically active. It covers the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of injuries caused by sport and exercise, the medical care of athletes and teams, and the use of physical activity to prevent and manage disease. The NHS careers service in England describes doctors in this specialty as treating sport and physical activity-related injuries and working to improve health through increased exercise, while also preventing and managing non-communicable diseases.
The name is used for two different things, and it matters which one a course offers. In the strict sense it is a specialty for qualified doctors. In the broad sense it is a group of related degrees (sport and exercise science, athletic training, sports rehabilitation, physiotherapy, clinical exercise physiology) whose graduates work alongside those doctors. Both cover anatomy, exercise physiology, biomechanics, injury, rehabilitation and nutrition.
Qualifications and levels
- The medical route. A sports physician first completes a medical degree and then specialises. In the United Kingdom, according to the NHS, this means medical school (a five-year undergraduate degree is typical), the two-year foundation programme and then specialty training of at least six or seven years. In Australia and New Zealand, the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP) is the only body accredited to train specialists; its programme takes a minimum of three years and seven months of full-time training. In Spain, the specialty is called Medicina de la Educación Física y del Deporte. Royal Decree 183/2008 keeps it under a school-based training system (régimen de alumnado) rather than hospital residency, so doctors should ask the Ministry of Health which training places are currently offered.
- Bachelor's degrees. Degrees in sport and exercise science or sports rehabilitation usually take three or four years. Swansea University, for example, offers a BSc Sport and Exercise Science in three years, or four with a year abroad, covering physiology, biomechanics, psychology and nutrition; the university states that it is endorsed by the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES).
- Master's degrees. These specialise in fields such as clinical exercise physiology or injury prevention. The Universidad Católica de Valencia "San Vicente Mártir" (UCV) offers the Máster Universitario en Ciencias Aplicadas a la Prevención y Readaptación Funcional de Lesiones Deportivas: 60 ECTS credits, hybrid, in Spanish, with a listed price of €5,490 and a start on 16 October 2026.
- United States. Athletic trainers typically need a master's degree, and nearly all states require a licence or certification, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Exercise physiologists typically need a bachelor's degree in exercise science or a related field.
A sports science degree does not qualify its holder to practise medicine. Ask which profession a programme leads to and what recognition it has.
Where to study it
SpainExchange lists 22 active schools for sports medicine. Four are in the United States, three in Spain, three in the United Kingdom, two in Russia and two in Australia. The rest are spread over other countries, among them Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Finland, Germany, Serbia, Sweden and Ukraine.
- Spain. The Universidad de Cádiz and the UCV in Valencia. The UCV also runs a sports medicine centre. Teaching is in Spanish.
- United Kingdom. Swansea University, the University of Northampton, whose Sport Rehabilitation and Conditioning BSc emphasises injury prevention, assessment and recovery, and the University of Gloucestershire.
- Australia. Bond University and Griffith University, both on the Gold Coast. Bond's Doctor of Physiotherapy includes clinical placements in areas that range from orthopaedics to sports practice.
- United States. Colorado State University and Tennessee Tech University, whose exercise science department offers bachelor's concentrations in health studies and allied medical fields.
- Elsewhere. The University of Jyväskylä in Finland has a Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences. The list also includes medical universities in Russia and Ukraine.
Check the language of instruction and, for clinical degrees, whether the qualification is recognised where you plan to work.
Careers
Doctors in this field work in hospital and community clinics, with sports teams and federations, and in research. It is a small specialty: the NHS reports only nine consultants employed in sport and exercise medicine, and 32 applications for 11 specialty training places in 2020.
Graduates of the related degrees work as athletic trainers, sports rehabilitators, physiotherapists, exercise physiologists and strength and conditioning coaches. In the United States, the BLS projects employment of athletic trainers and of exercise physiologists to grow 13 percent each from 2025 to 2035.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be a doctor to work in sports medicine?
To practise as a sports physician, yes: it is a medical specialty. Many other roles in the field, such as athletic trainer, sports rehabilitator or exercise physiologist, are open to graduates of non-medical degrees.
How long does it take to become a sports medicine doctor?
It depends on the country. In the UK, after medical school and the two-year foundation programme, specialty training takes at least six or seven years. In Australia and New Zealand the specialist programme takes a minimum of three years and seven months.
What is the difference between sports medicine and sports science?
Sports medicine is the medical care of active people and is practised by doctors. Sports science studies how the body performs and adapts to exercise; its graduates support athletes and patients but do not diagnose or prescribe as doctors.