Where will I end up? Relative location of sports medicine fellowship compared to residency among recent graduates

BACKGROUND: Sports Medicine (SM) fellowships have garnered increased interest over the past several decades as greater emphasis has been placed on physical activity as a cornerstone of well-being. Fellows usually complete a residency in Family Medicine (FM), Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R), Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine (EM), or Internal Medicine (IM). This study analyzes the recent geographic trends of SM fellows from 2019 to 2023. METHODS: SM fellows who graduated between 2019 and 2023 were identified from publicly available data, and the distances between SM fellowship and residency were examined. These were categorized as within 100 miles, same state, same region, or different region. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated for the relative locations of a graduate’s primary specialty. RESULTS: A total of 852 fellows were included. A majority of fellows (64.4%) were from FM, 14.9% from PM&R, 7.1% from Pediatrics, 7% from EM, and 6.2% from IM. FM residency graduates were more likely to stay within 100 miles (OR 1.47), same state (OR: 1.81), or same region (OR: 1.61) (p = 0.0093, p < 0.0001, p = 0.0018, respectively). In contrast, EM residency graduates were more likely not to remain within 100 miles (OR: 0.47) or the same state (OR: 0.52) (p = 0.0131, p = 0.0214, respectively). Fellows with an FM background were more likely to stay within 100 miles and within the state they trained in, while PM&R graduates were more likely to move greater than 100 miles and to a new state. CONCLUSION: Overall, graduates were most likely to stay in the same region for their SM fellowship.