Earning Your Spot on the Sideline: A Career as a Sports Medicine Team Physician

Emily O’Connell, MS3

Before medical school, I had spent most of my life as a soccer player. For years, I was on the other side of the athletic training room: the one being evaluated, taped up, and cleared to play. It wasn't until I started volunteering at local road races and staffing medical tents that I began to see sports medicine from a different perspective. For students like me who are drawn to both sports and medicine, the question becomes: how do you build a career that brings those two worlds together?

To find out, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dr. David A. Cohen, MD, a board-certified, fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon at the MedStar Orthopaedic Institute at Franklin Square Hospital. Dr. Cohen specializes in sports medicine with a focus on shoulder and knee care, and his surgical expertise spans ACL reconstruction, meniscal repair, and minimally invasive arthroscopy. He served as Head Team Physician for the Baltimore Brigade arena football team and currently serves as an Assistant Team Physician for the Baltimore Orioles, while also providing coverage for the Community College of Baltimore County. In the following conversation, he shares how he built a career in team coverage and what students interested in this path should know.

*Note: Interview responses have been edited for length and clarity.

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Emily: Could you start by telling me about your path to becoming an orthopaedic sports medicine surgeon and how you first became involved in team coverage?

Dr. Cohen: During medical school, I knew I wanted to do something surgical, and when I did my orthopaedics rotation, it kind of clicked. I matched into residency here in Baltimore. In orthopaedics, there are several subspecialties, but sports medicine clicked with me. I liked the fact that you had relatively young patients with typically acute injuries that you'd address and then get them back on their way again.

I had my first experience with team coverage when I was a resident. The program covered a couple of the schools in the Baltimore area and I ended up covering a bunch of Loyola lacrosse and basketball games, and it was fun interacting with the players and trainers and that sort of thing.

After residency, I applied for a fellowship at the UHZ Sports Medicine Institute in Miami, which was affiliated with the University of Miami and several other professional and college programs. I worked closely with the University of Miami football, baseball, and soccer teams, along with getting some professional exposure as well. I really loved the combination of the surgery and the game coverage.

It’s unusual to get a professional team right from the get-go. So when I entered practice, I started with local colleges and high schools, building relationships with athletic trainers and getting my foot in the door. My first professional team was the Baltimore Brigade arena football team. I covered them for about four years, and around the same time, one of the physicians covering the Orioles left and I moved into that role. I've been with the Orioles since 2018.

Emily: How did you find yourself connected with the Brigade and then later the Orioles? Was it more about connections, or was there an open application process?

Dr. Cohen: A lot of it depends on where you are and the health system you work with. In older times, relationships with teams often came down to whether the owner knew a doctor personally. But now, large healthcare organizations essentially lobby to get the rights to cover teams. MedStar has covered the Ravens for over 20 years, and about ten years ago, they approached the Orioles about providing coverage. There was already a connection. A physician at Hopkins who had been working with the Orioles came over to MedStar and helped facilitate the transition. So in more modern times, that's how most of these things happen.

Emily: So, you've covered everything from community college sports to a professional MLB team. How do your responsibilities and day-to-day experiences change across those settings?

Dr. Cohen: At the community college level, it's more relaxed. You're still seeing strains, sprains, ACL injuries, and shoulder instability, but there isn't as much pressure around timelines. The kids are just starting out.

At the professional level, time becomes a major factor. When a player gets injured, coaches and the front office want to know immediately — is this a few weeks, a few months, a year or more? We cover not only the major league roster but also multiple minor league affiliates, so we're in contact with athletic trainers almost daily. Responsibilities increase significantly, but having that base from earlier levels is really valuable.

Emily: For students who are hoping to work at the collegiate or professional level eventually, what does that progression typically look like?

Dr. Cohen: Early on, the best thing you can do is always be available and introduce yourself to local programs at whatever level you can access. Just let them know that if they need someone or a player gets hurt, here's your number, you'll get them in first thing Monday morning. Once you build those relationships, sometimes the athletic trainers you work with early on move to different teams and different levels — and you still have that connection you established early on. Those early relationships can really pay off down the road.

Emily: What does a typical week look like for you, balancing team coverage with your regular practice?

Dr. Cohen: I always joke with one of my partners that I essentially have two jobs. I have my regular job — being an orthopaedic surgeon, seeing patients, doing surgeries — and then I have my extra job that I do nights and weekends.

During the season, that means player meetings, game coverage, and constant communication with trainers and staff. When the Orioles are home, I'll often head to Camden Yards after a full day in clinic or the operating room. Time management is really the key. You're constantly balancing team responsibilities with your regular practice. It’s something you do because you really enjoy it. There is a lot of work involved and it isn’t all fun.

Emily: What are some of the more challenging or high-pressure aspects of caring for athletes?

Dr. Cohen: The pressure surrounding return-to-play timelines is real. But there are also genuinely tough decisions when something doesn't clearly require surgery but might. You want to give a player a chance to heal on their own rather than rush into an operation, because there's always the possibility of complications or a prolonged recovery.

The nice thing about being part of a large health organization is that there are a lot of people to draw on — athletic trainers, surgical and non-surgical physicians, and physical therapists. You're not making these decisions alone.

Emily: What are some important realities — or common misconceptions — that students and residents should understand early on?

Dr. Cohen: It's a long road and you have to be committed to it. Residency, then fellowship, then working your way up the ranks — it takes time and patience. And the understanding going in should be that yes, there's a lot of extra work. Quality of life takes a hit sometimes. You miss things because of the season. I try to schedule my summer vacation over the All-Star break because that's the natural break in the schedule. It's something you really have to love and genuinely enjoy. Doing it just to say you're the team doctor isn't a good enough reason.

Emily: What would you say are the most valuable things medical students can do now to be competitive for sports medicine opportunities later?

Dr. Cohen: Doing well academically, first and foremost. Orthopaedic residency is competitive, and non-operative sports medicine pathways are competitive as well.

Beyond academics, there are volunteer opportunities that can be helpful — things like medical coverage at running events or other large sporting activities. It's hard for a medical student to do formal team coverage from a liability standpoint, but showing interest through those kinds of experiences is valuable and something you can speak to. And of course, networking matters throughout.

Emily: Looking back, what do you wish you had known earlier about this career path?

Dr. Cohen: I think you learn quickly what the time commitment really looks like, and you adjust to that. What took me longer to appreciate was the importance of finding that life balance. Early on, you feel pressure to always be available and always be on. But it's important to carve out time to step back, be with family and friends. That's something that comes with experience over time.

In terms of training programs specifically — if you know you want to pursue team coverage, it's worth seeking out residency and fellowship programs that already have those affiliations built in. You'll get exposure to the physicians who do this work, you'll see how it operates, and you'll often have opportunities to cover games or events, even at the college level. The bigger programs tend to have more of those opportunities.

Emily: Any final words of wisdom?

Dr. Cohen: Work hard and take advantage of the opportunities that come your way. If you really want it, it's going to happen. I'm a firm believer that if you put your mind toward something and stay focused, you'll do all the right things to get where you need to be.

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Careers in sports medicine often seem defined by the teams physicians work with, but Dr. Cohen's experience highlights that those opportunities are usually built through years of training, relationship-building, and a genuine commitment to athlete care. For those interested in getting experience with event medical coverage, reach out to your school's orthopaedic interest group or look into volunteer opportunities at local races and sporting events — you never know where a single volunteer experience or conversation might lead.