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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.

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