Lately I have been hearing a lot of concerns from other athletic trainers about the lack of decisive action from the NATA in advocating for the profession. This theme occurs especially when it comes to sensitive topic such as problems with low pay and internships. A friend of mine recently sought out my opinion on the benefit of renewing his NATA due since he now works in the industrial setting, to him being a part of the professional organization doesn’t seem to bring much benefit. I tried to convince him that being a part of the NATA is more than the sum of its part.  Here are the reasons why I maintain my membership:

1.      Career Center is a great resource to find or post a job or even see what type of job is trending

2.      Opportunities for continuing education and professional development.

3.      Government affairs and advocacy

4.      Networking and social media communities

5.      Access to Journal of Athletic Training.

I believe that point number 3 is often neglected. As certified athletic trainers, we need to take some ownership to advocate for our profession.  I believe we often take the wrong mindset of “what can the NATA do for me” or “what has NATA done with such and such situation.” I believe that I am not the only one who gets frustrated and tired in hearing this type of outcry. The REAL question that we should ask is, “what can I do to help the NATA?” The reality is… any professional organization set up is developed for the benefit of its members and in order for the organization to be successful and alive, it is up to each and every member to play an active role. The apathy is reflected on the recent NATA presidential election. Our response rate is embarrassingly low. Too many people seem to only care about the negative challenges facing our profession.  Why can we not celebrate the positives? Can we hear stories from people about how they were able to contribute to a change in their organization? Please share them in the comments section!

Athletic training is a thriving profession.  Thriving professions make decisions and solve problems.  If we identify that we have problems (such as with internships and low pay), we need to put our thinking caps on and figure out why our value is under appreciated by external stakeholders.  As National Athletic Training Month is ending, I want to challenge and encourage you all to continue to advocate and educate. My hope is that this attitude does not only happen in the month of March.

-Denny Wongosari LAT, ATC

We all want to be the best athletic trainer we can be.  I know that sounds cheesy, but it is true and we demonstrate it every day in clinical practice.  We want to be available at a moment’s notice.  We want to know every injury and be able to answer every question our patients have with 100% confidence.  We want to always be expert.  We want all this AND life-work balance. 

Our own expectations of the “best” athletic trainer are unrealistic.  Let that sink in for a second.  We all talk about the pressures and the role strain we have as ATs.  Are some of these pressures a result of our own personal traits?  Did we choose a profession that only fuels our desire for perfection even though achieving perfection may be impossible?

I am sure we have all had (or soon will have) a colleague who leaves the profession because they are burnt out or they are tired or they are fed up with constantly having to justify themselves and their profession.  While there are challenges in our profession due to the public’s perception of our practice, some of our challenges are self-inflicted.  It starts with us as individual athletic trainers.  It is not the NATA’s, the BOC’s, the NATA Foundation’s, or the CAATE’s responsibility alone fix our challenges.  We need to look into ourselves and alter our definition of what the “best” athletic trainer looks like.  We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to spend countless hours in the athletic training room “just in case.” We don’t have to sacrifice our time or our family for a low-paying job.  We DO have to advocate for ourselves.  We DO have to ask for help.  We DO have to take personal responsibility for OUR profession.  We DO need change our actions to reflect what we all want.

This is a cultural shift in the profession.  Cultural shifts take time.  If you think this will change overnight, you will be disappointed.  Cultural shifts must be grassroots to be successful. Cultural shifts cannot come from above.  If we want to fix the big challenges in AT, we need both a grassroots approach and a top down approach.  Without this collaboration we will never move forward.

-Matthew Schafer ATC, LAT and Kenneth Games PhD, ATC, LAT

During my experience as a 2nd year graduate assistant athletic trainer, about to enter the “real world," I feel I've been noticing a trend in our profession: Selfishness.  Now, before the angry comments pour in, allow me to explain.  I’m not using the word in its traditional meaning, but rather as a figurative idea.  It seems as though we, as athletic trainers, often feel the pressure to know it all and do it all by ourselves in order to survive or to justify our spot in the health care world; almost as though we are on an isolated island.  This isn’t a new concept to us either. In fact, previous research has cited this as a source for poor work life balance.  It all makes sense.  Picture this…you are stuck on an evaluation that just isn't making any sense, regardless of the techniques you use.  You drive yourself crazy trying to think of the solution…Does this sound familiar?  I know I have been the culprit of this thinking more than once and I would be willing to bet 9 times out of 10 we have all done or are doing this to ourselves.  In these instances we should take the time to reach out to our fellow athletic trainers, whether it is a mentor from your job, a mentor from your education, or the athletic trainer from the 'rival' high school down the road.  Ask if they have any ideas or have experienced what you are experiencing.  This little step, trusting our peers, could not only make our lives easier but also improve patient care.  I know that being a graduate assistant allows me far more opportunities to ask my peers and see a different point of view, but many ATs don't feel like they can do this.

March is National Athletic Trainers Month.  We spend most of the month promoting ourselves, but how about we take a step to help ourselves.  Reach out to your colleagues in the professional community and ask for help.  Let’s help each other improve the quality of care we provide to our patients and work to gain some balance between work and everyday life.  If we don't help ourselves who will?

Who will you reach out to?

Let us know what you think, and share any experiences where you might have gotten a helping hand but reaching out to a peer athletic trainer.

-Austin Krause LAT, ATC

The advertisement of Intern Athletic Trainer positions is growing increasingly more frequent on the NATA’s career center and other employment search engines. Both large and small size universities are advertising the opportunity for one or more lucky individuals to work for them in the capacity of an ‘intern athletic trainer’. This excellent opportunity generally means that the selected individual (who is commonly a new graduate with a ‘preferred master’s degree’ and ‘1-2 years of professional experience’) is able to perform the tasks of a full-time collegiate athletic trainer with ‘minimal supervision’ or ‘full autonomy’, for a salary range between $7000 and $18000. Some of these institutions offer an hourly wage rate as spectacular as $8.05/hr (minimum wage). So if you would like to get in on some of these amazing employment opportunities I would recommend you checkout the NATA Career Center website.

The most recent NATA salary survey (2014) data1 tells us that ‘The average entry-level salary for ATs increased from $34,623 to $38,214’ from 2011 to 20141. The average salary in 2014 for an athletic trainer with 1-5 years of experience is $41,5681. The average salary for an athletic trainer with a master’s degree in 2014 was $54,6601. Do we really think it is acceptable for these institutions to offer employment for such little compensation? Some of the institutions listed below do offer other additional incentives such health care plans or provide on-campus housing. However, larger institutions offer these positions with the motive that working for their prestigious athletic department and the associated experience alone is compensation enough that they only need to provide an insufficient and insulting stipend.

I do not think this is appropriate and I believe that it is detrimental to our profession. As a profession we are currently campaigning for increased salaries in order to better align ourselves with other healthcare professions. This growing trend of intern athletic trainer positions is counter-productive as we attempt to advocate for fair reimbursement. My suggestion to the institutions that are advertising these positions is; If you want someone to perform the tasks of a full-time certified athletic trainer, then hire a FULL TIME ATHLETIC TRAINER. Advocate for our profession within your institution. If you are in need of the services of a full-time athletic trainer then present and justify this to your department/ institution, so that they can provide the money to fund one sufficiently.

Below is an example of what we believe is an unacceptable job description expected of an intern athletic trainer. We have removed the name of the institution so that it may remain anonymous. It is not our goal to make an example of specific institutions but to make an example of the trend of ‘internship’ positions as a whole.

______ University Sports Medicine seeks a Certified Intern Athletic Trainer to provide comprehensive health care for student-athletes in its intercollegiate athletic programs. The position is responsible to adhere to the university mission and ensure that policies and procedures are followed in the ______ University Sports Medicine Center. The Certified Intern Athletic Trainer must have a Bachelors degree in athletic training and have taken the NATABOC exam by April 11, 2015 to be considered for this position. The candidate ultimately must be certified by July 11, 2015. Candidates must also be eligible for licensure at time of application and be licensed prior to start date. This position will assist in providing coverage for Football year round with full travel responsibilities as well as being the primary athletic trainer for a combination of 1-2 of the following sports with limited to no travel depending on the sport: M/W Tennis, M/W Golf, M/W Track and Women's Swimming. Other duties include assisting in coverage of the ______ University Sports Medicine Center, and other home events as assigned by the Director of Sports Medicine. This position will pay a stipend of $8000 over 10 months from August 2015 through May 2016.

Whether you agree or disagree to any degree with the opinions presented above, please let us know how you feel about this issue by commenting below.  

As we enter March, the month deemed as athletic training month, it seems only right to start it off by discussing a matter that would further benefit athletic trainers (ATs). H.R. 921: Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act of 2015 purposes to extend an athletic trainer’s liability insurance benefits to states outside of his or her primary licensure state.

Currently, athletic trainers’ and other sports medicine professionals’ liability insurance does not cover the individual when he or she travels with a team outside of his or her primary licensure state. This means when an AT or team physician treats an athlete across state lines, each of them are at risk of incurring great professional loss. If the above health care professionals choose to refrain from putting themselves at this risk, they then choose to neglect the athletes that they provide care for, which may still lead to professional loss.

On February 12, 2015, Congressman Brett Guthrie (R-KY) and Congressman Cedric Richmond (D-LA) introduced this bill to the House. The Bill states:

“If a covered sports medicine professional provides covered medical services to an athlete, an athletic team, or a staff member of an athlete or athletic team in a secondary State, such services shall be deemed to have been provided in the primary State for the following purposes:

(1) Determining the medical professional liability insurance of that professional.

(2) Determining the civil and criminal malpractice liability of that professional.”

Almost all athletic trainers, whether one works at a high school, a college/university or with a professional team, will profit with the passing of this Bill. It is unacceptable that athletic trainers have to worry about his or her license when treating a patient across state lines. It is our job to protect and treat our patients. We should not be forced to take on legal risk to do our job just because the team we work with travels to other states.

#AT4ALL  #NATM2015 #ATlegislation

If you want information on how to get involved, click here:

Click here to download a fact sheet

To view the Bill, click here

To sign our change.org petition, please click on here

-Kelly Brock, LAT, ATC

March, Athletic Training Month, is now upon us once again. The purpose of this month is to increase awareness and to promote the profession that we love, ATHLETIC TRAINING!!

The NATA has shared numerous resources including: press releases, logos, PR toolkits, and sample media kits for athletic trainers to use. These are valuable resources so we don’t have to work independently to promote our profession. The NATA is a valuable resource to us as Athletic Trainers, as said earlier by Ashley Crossway in her blog about what our NATA dues do for us.


Take a look at these NATM resources:
NATA Website for NATM
NATM Toolkit

I hope after seeing what the NATA has done it may spark a creative idea for you to do. The NATA promotes numerous worthy items to get involved in but they also suggest being creative. With this years motto “We Prepare, You Perform” they want our message to include these key points:

• Athletic Trainers save Lives
  
• Not all athletes wear jerseys
• AT is the health care system for athletes and others
• ATs take responsibility and lower risk

So what do you plan to do during NATM? Will you hang-up your NATM poster in the athletic training room? Will you get your school to announce your presence at athletic events? Will you write your congressmen to back the new legislative bills proposed?

What ever you do, do something. Be creative and promote the profession that we all keep others safe and healthy.

Is your NATM plan good? Share what you do on social media and with the NATA and you may just win one of their contests.

Enter the NATM PR Contest, the Social Media Contest, or the Poster Contest

At Indiana State University we have been working on many fronts to promote Athletic Training, especially during NATM. For example, the graduate athletic training class is working on campaign to gain support from athletic trainers, parents, and administrators to promote the SAFE PLAY Act. We are also working as a class to promote the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act and to various media outlets to promote athletic training. Please maintain to read our blog and follow us on twitter @isuathltraining to keep updated as we release materials.

Our undergraduate athletic training student association (ATSA) has written the mayor of Terre Haute and gotten the city of Terre Haute to proclaim March as Athletic Training Month.

Thanks you for reading and all that you do to promote our profession! Lets work together to make a difference this March!

#AT4AT #AT4ALL #TogetherWeCanDoBetter

Jerrod Harrison LAT, ATC

Athletic Training is now in more secondary school settings than ever before. Coaches and athletes rely on their Athletic Trainer’s expertise in recognizing, treating, and rehabilitating injuries, as well as providing preventative care. How much do the coaches and parents really know about the role of their athletic trainer and of their involvement in the health and well being of the athlete?

Parents know their son or daughter’s coach and what they do. There is normally, at a minimum, a preseason meeting where the coach introduces his or her coaching staff and yes, the athletic trainer.  There are discussions on what the coach expects from the athletes and the parents.  However, there is usually no discussion on what the athletic trainer does or what is expected of the athlete and their parents in respect to preventative care or what happens when an athlete becomes ill or injured.  Parents have the opportunity to see the field or location where the games and practices will be held.  They have regular meetings to plan and participate in fund raisers and concession stand duties to raise money for the teams.  Yet, parents do not get to see where the treatments take place or how supplies are obtained.  Normally the only time a coach or parent sees the athletic trainer is on the side line, handling the water, cleaning cuts, or after the game or practice when an athlete is injured. Don’t you think coaches and parents should have the opportunity to see firsthand everything else the Athletic trainer does and how they are involved in the health and well being of the athlete?  I do.

Athletic Trainers need to allow parents, as well as coaches and athletes to come and visit the Athletic Training Room. This is an opportunity to demonstrate some of the more common rehabilitation exercises and treatments that are conducted.  Allow them to see the documentation process and the injury prevention tools that are utilize. Give them an up close experience of what the athletic trainer does, rather than just introducing themselves as the Athletic Trainer at a coaches meeting and then moving on to the next topic on the agenda. 

Allowing coaches and parents to see what happens behind the scenes would help them have a better understanding of who the person is on the sideline taking care of their child/athlete, as well as what the Athletic Trainer is doing after school to help the athlete get better. This may also provide the opportunity to express some of the things that the program is limited in, which could potentially spark the interest of some to help purchase or donate items that could help improve patient care. We all want the best equipment but having the best things usually comes at a steep price. So, low budget high schools especially, rely on donations and the athletic booster club to help purchase items that would otherwise be left out due to cost.

Educating the coaches and parents on how the athletic trainers are involved in the health and well being of their athletes will go a long way in raising awareness of the athletic training program in secondary schools. What strategy or strategies do you utilize to promote yourself as an athletic trainer and educate coaches/parents on the role you play in the health care team?

Bobby Vallandingham, LAT, ATC