MARCH IS OVER! The advocacy efforts are no more! Stop with your incessant tweets! #NATM #AthleticTrainerNOTtrainer #ILoveMyJob #LifeofanAT

Well there you have it. I guess we can all move on with our lives…until next year National Athletic Training Month.

Said no one, ever.

NATM 2015 brought about some wonderful efforts throughout the country, but do we really want that kind of involvement to just come once a year?

This time of the year is busy with district meetings and the annual convention. Athletic Trainers and students gather to learn, advocate for the profession, network, and collaborate with other great minds to create bigger and better plans for the future of our profession. Athletic Training brings about countless opportunities to be involved in something bigger than us. So now that NATM is over it’s our turn to join something new or even for the first time. Whether you are a future Athletic Trainer, a Graduate student, a program director, have 20 years of experience, or wear one of those fancy green jackets, there is something out there for you. Get involved in your community, at the state level, in your district, or at convention. Volunteer your time or join a committee. Whatever you do, you won’t regret it. I know I won’t.  The world of Athletic Training is small and functions more like a family so be an active part of it and not just for one month out of the year. Share your time and ideas with it. Interact with anyone and everyone! Who knows, it could lead to something great. Let’s keep the fire burning.

See you in St. Louis,

Rachael Kirkpatrick, LAT, ATC

NATA Committee List

http://www.nata.org/volunteer-resource-center/committees-councils

NATA Convention Registration

http://convention.nata.org/registration/

NATA Convention Volunteer Sign-up

http://convention.nata.org/get-involved/#volunteer

The NATA career center is a commonly bookmarked site for Athletic Trainers who are finishing their graduate assistantships or seeking new employment.  One common theme persists: “previous specific sport coverage desired.”  In addition to specific sports, specific divisions within the NCAA have even been requested.  A recent job posting stated that “division 3 experience is preferred.”  As an AT currently working in a high school, I know that there will be barriers and challenges for me to overcome if I desire to work in the collegiate setting.  I am not implying that this is an impossible feat but rather a harder route to go in pursuing another place of employment.  A common solution to this problem use to be the internship route.  (For more information please read the previous blog “Intern Athletic Trainer Positions are Detrimental to Our Profession”.)

So what do you do?  Internships I do not believe are not the route to go however, we have allowed job setting specializations to creep into the AT workplace and which has gotten us into the position we are in now.  When change is the desire, this can lead to a frustrating end when your previous experiences do not meet up with a job that is viewed as a potential place of employment just because you have not previously worked that sport at that specific level. 

Employers are seeking people who have had previous experiences with a specific sport and division because they believe this previous experience is what is best and the easiest transition.  Many people forget that with any job there is a time of adjustment to each new school and policies.  How is this adjustment time any different than that of a previous high school AT transitioning into a position at the collegiate level? When one has to cover a sport that is not previously known, this is a great time to learn!  Sport techniques and positions can be picked up and understood enough for patient care by watching as well as this gives the AT a great position to talk to their new coaching staff and showing them that they desire and are eager to learn more about that sport and show that they care.  Just as when new evidence suggests a change in practice, we as AT’s and employers need to be willing to adapt and get out of our comfort zones!  Why should it matter where or what sport we have worked before?

Let’s think about what Athletic Trainers actually do day to day.   Whether you work in a high school or with a professional sports team, AT’s all have the same goal in mind: to get the athlete back to health and competition as safely and quickly as possible.  Is an AT who works in the the Division I setting better able evaluate and treat an ankle sprain than an AT in the Division III, high school, clinic, or military setting?  I think we can all agree the answer is no.  Yes there may be quicker access to referrals and additional “tools” available at jobs with larger budgets but a competent AT is a competent AT no matter the practice setting. Let's work to get out of this cycle we've put ourselves in!

Beth Neil LAT, ATC

The beginning of April is the most popular time-frame for undergraduate students to take their BOC exam. Some argue that this test is the most important test of their life that determines if the last 2-4 years was all worth it. Here at Indiana State University we have had several senior students take the BOC this past week and it made me think, as Athletic Trainer’s do you think that you could pass the BOC exam right now? I know for us AT’s that have recently become certified, retaking the BOC exam right now wouldn’t be too hard to pass. But what about the AT’s that haven’t been in school for over 15 years? This brings up the importance of continuing education units in Athletic Training, or CEU’s.

Athletic Trainers have a requirement to get 50 CEU’s every two years. Now the most units offered at one time and place is the NATA clinical symposia and AT expo, which isn’t always affordable or timely for everyone. Thankfully there are hundreds of opportunities to get CEU’s for FREE! There are several online websites that offer free CEU’s that range from online anatomy labs, lectures, and webinars. Using these resources is crucial in maintaining our credentials and being up to date on the most recent literature and research. It is very important to not only complete the task of taking these courses, but to also learn from the information. Learning and applying the new information into clinical practice is what will enhance us as clinicians and educators. Which brings me back to the question: Do you think that you could pass the BOC exam right now? I encourage you all to evaluate the curriculum of the CEU’s that you are taking and determine if it is helping you become a better clinician, as well as prepared for taking the BOC exam. 
-Shannan Rowe LAT, ATC

Over the last couple of weeks football players in both the NFL, notably Chris Borland of the San Francisco 49ers, and NCAA have announced their retirement due to concussion and other injury related concerns.  While the media chooses to anoint these as isolated incidents I believe that it is likely that more of these retirements will be occurring as more and more risks of these injuries, particularly concussions are identified.  As Athletic Trainers we must remain informed on these risks and be able to sift through the research for the best evidence because it is likely that we are involved in these difficult conversations with athletes when they are trying to make these decisions.

In professional sports the decision to make often includes weighing millions of dollars versus continually putting one’s body at risk.  While of course the player’s family, front office staff, coaching staff will likely be involved in the decision, the athlete may look to us to provide informed advice.  We have the most contact on a daily basis with these players in the medical aspect of sports, so they are going to value our opinion.  It is not our role to make the decision for them, but rather give them the best information based upon an evidenced-based approach to their particular case.

This evidence-based approach should involve our knowledge of clinical outcomes for players that have suffered similar injuries in the past, the current highest level of evidence published on the topic, and the patient’s own values.  If an injury does not have great clinical outcomes we have a professional responsibility to let our patient’s know what they are facing and what risks lie ahead if they continue sport participation.  We also need to continue to seek out new evidence to provide not only the best patient care, but the best information possible when trying to help make a life altering decision such as this.  The patient’s own values are one of the most overlooked aspects in this process. For example, many have chosen to criticize Derrick Rose over his comments saying he would rather be able to attend business meeting and play with his kids later in life than risk further damage to his knee, but those are his values and they must be respected.

In the end we have responsibility to our patients to provide the best care possible and if that involves informing them that they could be doing potentially irreparable damage to their body at 25 then we have a professional obligation to do so.  We must continue to remain independent from the team that is paying them and make sure that we are not pressured into telling a patient something that we do not believe, betraying our own values and ethics.  Our goal is not to try to end someone’s career or take away potential earnings, but we cannot allow these athletes to continue to put themselves at harm without giving them the best information possible from a medical perspective.

Justin Police, LAT, ATC