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International Review for the Sociology of Sport
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`We Have all theBases Covered'

Constructions of Professional Boundaries in Sport Medicine

Nancy Theberge

University of Waterloo, Canada, theberge{at}uwaterloo.ca

Three professions that figure prominently in sport medicine in Canada are athletic therapy, physiotherapy and chiropractic. These professions are characterized by blurred occupational boundaries, arising from overlap in the content of practice and differences within the professions in the skills of individual practitioners. Accordingly, they face challenges in establishing jurisdiction over professional practice. This article examines the claims made by practitioners in these professions about the contributions of their own profession and how it is different from the others. The analysis draws upon interviews with 33 practitioners. Findings indicate that physiotherapy is positioned as the profession against which athletic therapists and chiropractors each locate themselves. Athletic therapists argue they are the sport specialists; this is challenged by the development of sport specializations in physiotherapy and chiropractic. Chiropractors assert specialized knowledge that enables them to contribute to athletes' performance. The increasing rationalization of sport provides a context in which chiropractors' assertions to contribute to performance offers a particularly meaningful basis for claiming a position in sport medicine.

Key Words: professional boundaries • professions • sport medicine

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 44, No. 2-3, 265-281 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1012690209104795
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