American College of Emergency Physicians
The Growth of EM-supported Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowships
Historically, primary care sports medicine has been heavily dominated by family physicians, and this is reflected by the relatively large number of Family medicine-based fellowship programs existing today. However, an increasing number of emergency physicians entering the subspecialty over the past decade has resulted in the growth of EM-supported fellowships and fellowship positions.
For the emergency physician seeking fellowship training in sports medicine, the process of exploring fellowship programs may seem daunting since there are well over 150 programs currently accepting applications. In general, I tend to categorize fellowship programs as:
- not accepting applications from emergency physicians;
- accepting applications from emergency physicians but lacking a track record of EM graduates;
- accepting applications from emergency physicians and consistently training emergency physicians, and;
- accepting applications from emergency physicians with the added advantage of an EM-trained program director, dedicated EM fellowship position(s), and/or EM-trained fellowship faculty member(s).
While several personal and professional factors will weigh into a prospective applicant’s evaluation of any given program, it deserves mention that several fellowship programs now offer EM-dedicated positions or tracks which are naturally borne out of emergency physician leadership (e.g., EM-trained program director) or other involvement in the program. Importantly, this highlights a program’s commitment to understand and meet the unique needs of the EM-trained fellow and typically affords focused guidance and mentorship during the fellowship year.
See below for a listing of EM-supported primary care sports medicine fellowships (relating to category #4 above), in alphabetical order:
Allegheny Health Network (PA)
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
Duke University School of Medicine (NC)
- EM-dedicated position
Geisinger Medical Center (PA)
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
Greenville Health System/University of South Carolina
- Multiple EM-trained fellowship faculty members
Henry Ford Health System (MI)
- Multiple EM-trained fellowship faculty members; EM-trained Assistant PD
MedStar Georgetown/MedStar Washington Hospital Center (DC)
- EM-based; EM-trained program director
North Shore University Hospital/Northwell Health (NY)
- EM-based; EM-trained program director
O’Connor Hospital/Stanford Health Care (CA)
- EM-dedicated position
Oregon Health & Science University
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
The Ohio State University
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
University of Arizona College of Medicine (Tuscon)
- EM track/EM-dedicated position; EM-trained Associate PD
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (OH)
- EM-trained program director
University of Iowa
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
University of Maryland School of Medicine
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
University of New Mexico School of Medicine
- EM-trained Assistant PD
University of Utah School of Medicine
- EM-trained fellowship faculty member
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (TN)
- EM track
***Please note that this is neither an official ACEP endorsement of the listed programs nor is it intended to be an all-inclusive list. Comprehensive listings of all accredited fellowship programs can be found on the website of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine (AMSSM), ACEP Sports Medicine Section, and EMRA Sports Medicine Division.
We are continually updating the ACEP and EMRA fellowship maps – please contact me with any updated fellowship program information or if I overlooked a specific program deserving mention above.
Good luck with the fellowship search!
