Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based) Salary
Primary care sports medicine, entered through a one-year fellowship from internal or family medicine, is a procedure-friendly outpatient practice. Injection volume and event or team coverage are what separate offers.
Median total cash compensation for a mid-career attending. Source: Medscape 2024 (publicly cited). Treat figures as medians, not targets. Real compensation varies widely by geography, employment model, and experience.
Live anonymous cohort, Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based)
We display a live Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based) cohort once at least 10 attendings have submitted in the last 24 months. Until then, the published benchmark and regional table below are your reference. Be one of the first to seed it.
Submit your comp anonymouslySports Medicine (IM/FM-based) pay by region
Directional regional medians, anchored to the Medscape 2024 national figure and US Census region adjustments. The South and Midwest pay more in absolute dollars because physician supply is lower and demand is higher; the Northeast runs lower with a higher cost of living.
| Region | Median total comp | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| National median | $285,000 | Doximity 2024 / Medscape 2024 nationwide median. |
| South | $313,500 | Highest absolute compensation. Houston, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Atlanta lead. |
| Midwest | $307,800 | Indianapolis and St. Louis often top Doximity median tables. |
| West | $290,700 | Wide spread. California pays well but is offset by cost of living. |
| Northeast | $276,450 | Lower in absolute terms (high supply of physicians) and higher cost of living. |
Regional figures are modeled adjustments to the national median, not separately surveyed values. Use them for direction, not as an offer benchmark.
What drives Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based) compensation
- In-office procedure volume, including joint and soft-tissue injections and ultrasound-guided work.
- Event, team, and training-room coverage arrangements that add income and visibility.
- Orthopedic group adjuncts, where referral flow and ancillary access raise the ceiling.
- Standard outpatient productivity mechanics on the non-procedural visits.
Model your own number, not the median
Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based) reports a median of about 4,800 wRVUs a year. Your take-home is that volume times your contract rate, above your threshold. Plug your real visit mix into the calculator and see the bonus your specific offer produces, then negotiate against it.
Negotiation levers at offer time
- •Make the offer reflect your procedure mix rather than a generic primary care average.
- •Clarify whether team or event coverage is paid, in kind, or expected unpaid time.
- •If joining an orthopedic group, confirm referral expectations and ancillary crediting.
Sports Medicine (IM/FM-based) at a glance
1-year fellowship from IM/FM. Procedure-friendly outpatient practice. Typical setting: outpatient + event coverage + ortho clinic adjuncts.
Frequently asked questions
How does sports medicine differ from general primary care on pay?
It is more procedural. Injection and ultrasound-guided procedure volume, plus event and team coverage, lift the wRVU profile above a standard primary care clinic.
Is event and team coverage paid?
It varies widely. Some arrangements pay directly, some are in kind, and some are unpaid expected time, so it should be clarified explicitly in the offer.
Does joining an orthopedic group help income?
It can, through referral flow and ancillary access, but confirm how referrals and ancillary revenue credit before assuming the higher ceiling.
Educational reference, not financial, billing, or legal advice. Published medians are publicly cited from Medscape 2024. The live cohort is self-reported and anonymized; individual rows are never exposed and a cohort is shown only at a minimum size. Verify any number against your own contract and market before acting on it.