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Health Careers in Sports
schedule off-season surgeries and then work with the athletes as
they rehab from the surgery. Before the teams draft new players,
the trainers are gathering medical information about the players
their teams are interested in selecting. Then, several months
before the season starts, the trainers work with athletes as they
begin their training for the next season.
ReadyWhen Needed
Team doctors or sports doctors in general don’t have the constant
contact with athletes that athletic trainers do. They usually have
jobs at universities or hospitals, while some run their own private
practice. Dr. Christopher Ahmad, for example, is the head team
physician of the New York Yankees but is also a professor and
works at a New York hospital. The team also uses Dr. Daniel
Murphy to help injured players. He’s based in Tampa, Fla., where
the Yankees train and have a minor-league team. For Murphy,
a busy time comes when the season ends, as players rehabilitate
from injuries. On his practice’s Web site he writes, “There’s a
lot of pressure to get these players healthy and back on the field
as soon as possible. It’s kind of an
accelerated
rehabilitation
program where the stakes are very high, but the players are
also very driven and motivated, so it’s an exciting process to