Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Sports Medicine Certification

Objective: To update information regarding practice patterns of family physicians with a certificate of added qualifications (CAQ) in Sports Medicine (SM), because it has been over 10 years since the last comprehensive study. Design: Cross-sectional analysis of 2017 and 2018 American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Family Medicine Certification and SM CAQ examination registration practice demographic questionnaire data. Setting: N/A. Participants: Family physicians with a CAQ in SM [sports medicine family physicians (SM-FPs)] and family physicians without a CAQ registering for the ABFM Family Medicine Certification or SM CAQ examinations. Intervention: N/A. Main Outcomes: Self-reported time spent practicing SM, activities in SM, scope of practice, and practice setting. Results: Sports medicine family physicians are predominately men (78.7%) and below 49 years (65.8%). Most SM-FPs spend 60% of their time or less practicing SM and the scope of practice of SM-FPs is only slightly narrower than that of their family physician counterparts without a CAQ. In addition, 92.8% of SM-FPs are practicing in an urban setting. Conclusions: The similarity of scope of practice for SM-FPs and family physicians without a CAQ and the time spent practicing SM by SM-FPs suggests that most SM-FPs are spending a significant amount of time continuing to practice their primary specialty. Sports medicine family physicians are largely attracted to urban practice settings, most likely because of the higher likelihood of employment opportunities. Finally, factors that may be dissuading women from entering the field of SM deserve further investigation.