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ard at
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ork
help them recover from
their injuries.”
For sports medicine
surgeons, their most direct
contact with athletes
comes in their office or
an operating room. They
order diagnostic tests,
prescribe medicine when
necessary, and do surgery
when an injury is severe. Sports surgeons also help plan the
rehabilitation process after an injury or surgery.
Keeping the Mind Focused
Most psychologists have an office where they conduct their
work. Patients regularly come to see them for an hour session,
until the patients feel their particular problems have been
solved. Things work a little differently for Sean McCann and
other sports psychologists for the Olympic team. They start
working with athletes several years before the next Games begin.
This long-term work helps the psychologists gain the athletes’
trust. That can entail a lot of travel—up to 100 days per year—
The most common sports surgeries are on the
shoulder’s rotator cuff or on knee ligaments.