Sports medicine has taught us over the last two decades that there is a lot more to learn about tissue regeneration and healing and rehabilitation and recovery of function, as well as optimizing the potential of the human body. It sounds basic now, but there were times when the cause of a size difference was fairly consistently overlooked. Deadlines are often crucial in sports medicine. Athletes are always fighting the calendar. The weekend warrior who comes in with shoulder pain from playing tennis isn't facing a game deadline, but he or she is looking at getting better in a timely fashion.
Athletes do have some advantages, of course.
For physical therapy an athlete may be seen three times a day instead of three times a week. It would be good, but unrealistic, if everyone could have that level of service. A sports medicine orthopedist frequently sees stress fractures, but a general practice orthopedist may rarely see one. On the other hand, general orthopedists see countless other things that we don't encounter in our daily practices. SOAR provides the orthopedic care for Stanford's Department of Athletics.