A Sport and Exercise Physician (SEP) has expertise in general medicine, orthopaedics, radiology and rehabilitation and emergency medicine, as they relate to sport and exercise related conditions, injuries, trauma and illnesses. The work can be incredibly varied, including clinical work, policy development, research, team and sports coverage and project work.
In clinical practice, patients vary from 5-99 years old; those embarking on exercise to improve overall health specific conditions or improving chronic conditions; recreational, weekend warrior, elite or professional athletes; manual workers or those with chronic diseases simply wanting to safely increase their activity levels. Many SEPs are involved in procedural work such as ultrasound guided injections.
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SEPs work in private practice or in sporting organisations in Western Australia. Registrars are placed in private practice for the minimum four-year training program. In other states, there are a small number of posts based in Public Hospitals. Part of the training program involves working with sporting teams, events and organisations to provide care to athletes in their training and competition environments. The governing college is Australasian and has a small and competitive yearly intake for both Australia and New Zealand.
SEPs may be employed by professional and sporting organisations, government and other entities to assist with policy development, management and care of athletes and staff on teams. This care may include anti-doping, injury and illness management, travel medicine, concussion, infection control and health prevention as examples.
[i] SEM Physicians - Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (acsep.org.au)
As a sport and exercise physician (SEP) you will generally have:
As a SEP your days will be varied. The main areas you are likely to be focused on:
As a SEP your clients will be very diverse. You will see people from various cultures and ages ranging from 5 to 90 years. You can’t perform this job on your own - you need the help of a good team around you. It’s like being part of a sporting team but in a medical context.
There aren’t currently subspecialties within sport and exercise medicine so as a SEP you will be a generalist and deal with the whole range of issues that are related to this specialty. There are however sport and exercise physicians that perform injections and use ultrasound machines, others that focus on policy and those that focus on specific demographics such as women and girls, those with osteoarthritis, or a specific sport.
Sport and exercise medicine training is undertaken with the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP). Before entry into the training program, you need to pass the ACSEP entrance examination. The program is Trans-Tasman, with a limited number of placements offered each year. It is highly competitive, with on average 12-15 places being awarded per annum. Applicants can apply after PGY3+. Once the entrance examination has been successfully passed, you can submit an application to the training program, along with CV. Applicants will be assessed and interviews awarded in September each year. Places are awarded based primarily on Interview and a small percentage of CV marks. Successful applicants commence a training program that takes a minimum of four years. Strong interest and involvement in sport and exercise is important in this process, with experience and volunteering in sport and exercise environments looked upon highly.
Training is based in private practice, with a minimum of two training posts over the training program. Due to the competitive nature of the program, it is highly likely you will be offered a place outside of your home state. Four years of training is made up of a combination of clinic work, sports team and event coverage and overseas tram team travel. There is a research requirement, weekly registrar tutorials and a focus on self-directed learning including working through specific education modules. Work based assessments take place regularly and include interventions, case-based discussions and Mini-CEX. Once all requirements have been met, Part Two exams are the exit to your training, inclusive of a written examination followed by clinical OSCE and Viva examination. The training program is now based on stages of competency to progress.
The aim of the training program is to train you to be skilled in a multi-disciplinary team to promote exercise and physical activity for health and to adapt its use safely in the diagnosis, investigation and management of acute and chronic illness and injury and chronic disease.
As you will be working in private practice and contracting to other organisations, work is usually not salaried and working as a contractor is highly likely.
As a sport and exercise physician your work can follow many and varied paths.
Private practice and team coverage provide a significant portion of most SEPs day-to-day work. There are a large number of processional and semi-professional sporting organisations that require full or near full time SEP workloads. There is a huge range of organisations that require input from SEPs, which may be work from home, part-time and flexible work load.
It is possible to work 9-5 hours, weekends and evenings only and to work part-time. The work is very well suited to those seeking flexible working hours, including those with families.
