Sports medicine used to be the sole responsibility of athletic trainers and team doctors, whose only emphasis was treating injured athletes.

While treating injuries is still a major focus, the field of sports medicine has grown to include a host of medical specialists who work collectively to provide total care for the athlete. In addition to the physicians and trainers, nutritionists, physiologists, physical therapists and psychologists are now an integral part of the team approach in sports medicine. And all careers in sports medicine require a college or post-graduate degree of some kind.

Degrees in sports medicine are not as hard to come by as they were ten to fifteen years ago. There are at least 130 colleges in the United States and Canada that offer four-year degrees in sports medicine. With so many options available, choosing a career path in sports medicine may not be so clear cut.

"You have to remember that there are a lot of levels of participation," says Dr. Letha Y. "Etty" Griffin, an Atlanta orthopaedic surgeon. "A lot depends on what aspect of sports medicine you want to get involved in. And you have to ask yourself how much time and how much money you want to spend getting the education you need for what you want to do."

Career opportunities for women and minorities are numerous, says Dr. Griffin, who also serves as team physician for Georgia State University and Agnes Scott College. "There are more women and minority trainers and physicians than five years ago," she explains. "And now that more people are getting into fitness and recreational sports, the demand for trainers and physiologists has increased. "

The boom in recreational sports and physical fitness has broadened the horizon of sports medicine beyond high school, college and professional athletics. Sports-medicine clinics, fitness centers and health clubs have helped increase the demand for physicians, trainers, physiologists and other specialists.

Doctors are aware of the demand. Currently, there are approximately 3,800 physicians who belong to the American College of Sports Medicine -- a 50 percent increase over the last decade. Approximately 1,100 of the top orthopaedic surgeons in the country are certified by the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery -- and most of those belong to the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.