A Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Specialist is a healthcare professional who uses mechanical movements, manual movements, and exercise to help treat patients. They use various treatment methods to help their patients deal with pain and even learn to walk or move certain muscles or parts of the body again. They work closely with another medical professional to diagnose and treat patients properly.

Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that works with athletes and others who play sports or take part in physically demanding activities that may result in injury or other overuse-related problems. Therefore, it is closely related to physical therapy. Since athletes can experience certain issues that may be uncommon in the rest of the population, the doctors who specialize in this field have advanced knowledge of the body and issues that may arise from participating in various physical activities.