Also called: Team Physician
Treats injuries and keeps athletes, from high schoolers to pros, healthy enough to compete.
Runs a clinic full of sprained ankles and concussions, uses ultrasound to guide injections, and on Friday nights stands on the sideline of a football game ready to evaluate a hard hit.
BLS top-codes many physician wages; figures are estimates for attending physicians after residency (residents earn about $65k-$80k while training).
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Professional degree (MD, JD, DVM…), about 12 years after high school. Bachelor's, medical school, a 3-year residency (often family medicine), then a 1-year sports medicine fellowship.
Ways in: 4-year college, Professional school. Training cost: Over $150k.
Majors to look at: Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Neuroscience, Pre-Medicine, Kinesiology.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years).
Low risk for 10 years. AI helps track athlete loads and read ultrasounds; sideline exams, injections and return-to-play calls stay human.
Classes: AP Biology, Anatomy & physiology, Physics, Sports medicine CTE.
Official data: O*NET occupation 29-1229.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.