What is Sports Medicine residency

Sports Medicine, or Exercise and Sports Medicine, is the medical specialty focused on the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries resulting from physical activity, in addition to promoting health and optimizing sports performance. Contrary to what many imagine, its scope goes far beyond high-performance athletes: sports doctors treat children, the elderly, sedentary individuals starting activity, and patients with chronic diseases who benefit from exercise as a therapeutic resource.

The medical residency in this area lasts three years and is direct access, meaning it can be started immediately after graduating from medical school, without the need for another prior specialization. The program has existed in Brazil since 2007 and is regulated by the Brazilian Society of Exercise and Sports Medicine (SBMEE).

Why Sports Medicine was the most competitive in ENARE 2025/2026

In the 2025/2026 ENARE edition, Sports Medicine registered 59.67 candidates per spot, making it the most disputed specialty in the entire exam. There were only 3 spots for 179 applicants, a combination that placed the candidate-to-spot ratio well above historically competitive areas such as Otorhinolaryngology (51.26), Neurosurgery (46.11), and Ophthalmology (37.95).

To contextualize: the overall competition for ENARE 2025/2026 was 12.63 candidates per spot, considering 87,040 approved applications for a total of 6,894 spots. Sports Medicine was almost 5 times above this average. Three factors explain the phenomenon:

• Extremely limited number of available spots

  Only 3 spots were offered nationwide in the 2025/2026 edition. Any increase in demand has a disproportionate impact on the candidate-to-spot ratio.
• Accelerated growth of the health and performance market

  The boom in gyms, corporate wellness, preventive medicine, and high-performance sports has increased demand for the specialty and attracted more doctors to the field.
• Specialty with very few certified professionals in Brazil

  According to the Medical Demographics of 2025, only 1,087 doctors work as Sports Medicine specialists in the country, about 0.2% of specialized doctors. This scarcity increases the value of the title and expands opportunities.

ENARE 2025/2026 in numbers: the largest in history

ENARE 2025/2026 was the largest medical residency selection process in the exam's history, with 87,040 approved applications for medical specialties, a 63.7% increase compared to the previous edition. In total, 198 institutions participated, offering 7,422 spots after the adjustment period: 5,343 for direct access and 2,079 with required prerequisites.

One of the factors that drove this growth was the creation of ENAMED, the National Examination for Medical Training Evaluation. The new assessment unifies the ENARE exam for direct access specialties with the ENADE for Medicine, allowing final-year students to use the same score for both institutional evaluation and to compete for residency spots. Candidates for specialties with prerequisites continue to take the specific ENARE exam, administered by the FGV board in this edition.

What a Sports Medicine specialist does

A sports doctor works at the intersection of clinical medicine, exercise physiology, rehabilitation, and health promotion, with an essentially preventive and multidisciplinary profile. The specialty requires constant integration with physical therapists, nutritionists, fitness trainers, and sports psychologists.

Job market and remuneration in Sports Medicine

The job market for sports doctors is considered promising and expanding, driven by the growing appreciation of preventive health, wellness, and sports performance in Brazilian society. With only 1,087 specialists nationwide, the scarcity of professionals creates opportunities in multiple segments of practice.

• Professional sports clubs and teams

  Football, basketball, athletics, and Olympic sports require dedicated sports doctors for support in training, games, travel, and injury management throughout the season.
• Performance and rehabilitation clinics

  Specialized centers in sports medicine, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, and athletic performance, catering to elite athletes as well as the general population.
• Corporate health and wellness

  Medium and large companies with quality of life programs for employees, private practices, and digital health platforms.
• Gyms and training centers

  Exercise prescription, screening of practitioners with comorbidities, reports for pre-participation evaluation, and technical support for physical education teams.

Regarding remuneration, newly qualified specialists earn around R$ 6,000 per month, while experienced professionals can exceed R$ 17,000, according to data from the Trabalha Brasil platform. The residency scholarship follows the national value set by the MEC, at R$ 4,106.90 per month.

How to prepare for Sports Medicine residency in ENARE

Given the competition of almost 60 candidates per spot, preparation for Sports Medicine residency requires strategic planning, in-depth study of core areas, and knowledge of the profile of the ENARE participating boards. The main points of attention for the next cycle:

• Master the five major areas of Medicine

  The ENARE exam covers Internal Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics, Pediatrics, and Preventive Medicine. As a direct access specialty, Sports Medicine is assessed by ENAMED, which follows the same basis.
• Deepen your knowledge of exercise physiology and cardiology

  Sports Medicine places a strong emphasis on cardiology and exercise physiology. Pre-participation cardiovascular evaluation, response to aerobic exercise, and management of arrhythmias are recurring themes.
• Research institutions that offer vacancies

  With few vacancies in ENARE, it's worth checking programs outside the unified exam. Historically, most vacancies are concentrated in institutions in São Paulo state and Rio Grande do Sul.
• Consider the subspecialty path

  Doctors who don't secure direct admission can opt for Orthopedics with a later focus on sports orthopedics, or Cardiology with an emphasis on sports cardiology.

What to expect from ENARE 2026/2027 for Sports Medicine

The trend for the next ENARE cycle is for competition in Sports Medicine to remain stable or increase, given the structural growth in demand for the specialty and the historical expansion of registrations for the exam. ENARE 2025/2026 had 63.7% more registrants than the previous edition, and the consolidation of ENAMED as a direct access entry point should further increase the number of candidates in the coming years.

On the other hand, there is an expectation of an increase in the number of vacancies in the specialty. Market growth, the very low density of specialists, the demand for sports doctors at large events, and the growing interest of medical schools in structuring new residency programs are factors that could contribute to a greater supply in future announcements.

For those planning to try for the next edition, now is the time to start preparing: with a cut-off score that is likely to remain high and a very narrow window of vacancies, every point on the exam can be decisive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Direct answers to the most common questions about Sports Medicine residency and ENARE.