Is there difference between an sports medicine doctor and orthopedic surgeon?

Sports Med v Ortho: A sports med doctor does not have to be an orthopedic surgeon. Anyone can put that name on their door, even a chiropractor. An orthopedic surgeon goes through a 5 year residency and most of us have also done a fellowship. I did a one year sports medicine fellowship after my residency. Be wary of titles.

Not only Ortho : The primary care specialties also offer sports medicine fellowships. Family, internal, peds and emergency med also can be boarded in spprts med i think the most important question would be is your doctor board certified in sports medicine, or is it simply an interst of theirs.

Sports Medicine: There are physicians that have completed sports medicine fellowship programs who are not orthopedic surgeons and do not perform surgery. Orthopedic surgeons can also complete a sports medicine fellowship that involves developing surgical and non surgical expertise in sports related (type) injuries.

Depends: Lots of folks like to claim being sports doctors; however look for fellow ship trained sports doctors in orthopaedics, famil practice, primary care, and physical medicine. Unlike the rest, orthopaedic surgeons also do surgery to fix specific problems.

Yes and No: Sports medicine doctors are usually orthopaedic surgeons that have gone on for further training in the area of sports medicine. There are doctors that are not orthopaedic surgeons, but have additional training in sports medicine. They can treat patients but do not do surgery. Orthopaedic surgeons can specialize in sports medicine, spine, pediatrics, joint replacement, hand surgery, etc.