1. The Role of Athletic Trainers
HISTORY
The Role of Athletic Trainers

2. What is Sports Medicine?
GOALS
Know who we are & what we do
Know what areas we work in
Know the sports medicine team

3. What is Sports Medicine?
The areas of specialization under the umbrella of Sports Medicine is broken into two parts – Performance Enhancement and Injury Care and Management.

4. What is Sports Medicine?
Performance enhancement
Exercise Physiology
Biomechanics
Sports Psychology
Sports Nutrition
Strength and Conditioning
Coaching
Personal Fitness Trainers

5. Sports Medicine Injury Care and Management
Practice of Medicine (physician)
Athletic Training
Sports Physical Therapy
Sports Massage Therapy
Sports Dentistry
Osteopathic Medicine
Orthotists/Prosthetists
Sports Chiropractic
Sports Podiatry

6. What is Sports Medicine?

7. What is Athletic Training?
NATA – founded in 1950
Governing board
Recognizing the need for a set of professional standards and appropriate professional recognition, the NATA has helped to unify certified athletic trainers across the country by setting a standard for professionalism, education, certification, research and practice settings.
The NATA is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN.  The association has expanded to encompass a global membership totaling over 32,000 and 25 countries.
Advisory Board of Athletic Trainers
Texas governing board

9. What is Sports Medicine?
Other Organizations:
Recognized by the AMA (American Medical Assoc.)
ACSM – American College of Sports Medicine
AOSSM – American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
APTA – American Physical Therapy Association
NSCA – National Strength and Conditioning Association

10. Athletic Training job market
Secondary Schools
College/Universities
Olympic sports – winter & Summer
Professional sports
Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Soccer
NASCAR, X Games,
Golf, Tennis, Rodeo
Clinics
PT and Physician extenders
Industrial/corporate settings
Military
Department of Homeland Security
Performing Arts

11. Board Certification Domains of Athletic Training
In 2004 the Board of Certification – which covers many health fields -finished a role delineation study that identified six roles that the athletic trainer covers.

12. Board Certification Domains of Athletic Training
6 Performance domains of athletic training
Prevention of athletic injuries
Clinical evaluation and assessment
Immediate Care
Treatment, rehabilitation, and reconditioning
Organization and administration
Professional development and responsibility

13. Domain 1: Prevention Physical exams
Developing training and conditioning programs
Ensuring safe environment,
Selecting/fitting/maintaining protective equipment
Consulting and guidance with diet and lifestyle choices
using medications appropriately.

14. Domain 2: Clinical Evaluation & Diagnosis
Medical history
Observation
Palpation
ROM and strength test
Special tests, joint stability tests
Understanding the pathology of injury and illness
referral to appropriate medical care
Referring to support services

15. Domain 3: Immediate Care
Responsible for on-field evaluation
Must have sound skills for initial recognition of potential serious injuries and/or illnesses
Responsible for correct decision for proper acute injury management
Must have skills to take care of emergency care

16. Domain 4: Treatment, Rehabilitation, and Reconditioning
Designing rehabilitation programs
Must have sound knowledge in anatomy to help evaluate the injury correctly and build the proper program.
Supervising rehabilitation programs
Must have a very good understanding of the healing process of the many tissues in the body.
Incorporating therapeutic modalities
Offering psychosocial intervention
Must have a good understanding of psychology
Athletes go through a wide range of emotions during and after an injury.
Athletes have different pain thresholds, cooperation, motivations

17. Domain 5: Organization & Administration
Record keeping
Pre-participation physicals and Emergency cards
Injury reports
Treatment and Rehabilitation reports
Insurance
Ordering supplies and equipment
Supervising assistants and students
Establishing policies
Student athletic trainer policies
Day to day operations
Emergency management

18. Domain 6: Professional responsibilities
Continuing education
Always learning – never know enough
Counselor
Informing parents of injuries
Prevention education
Researcher
Research helps us do our job better – many colleges hire athletic trainers to do research.
Most if not all decisions we make for our athletes is done off evidence-based medicine
We have supported literature to help base our decisions

19. Qualities an AT must possess
- stamina
- difficult job
- long hours
- ability to adapt
- practice schedules, game changes
- environment
- empathy
- the capacity to enter into the feeling or spirit of
another person.
- sense of humor
- helps lighten mood in tense situations
- help relieve stress
- ranked most important by patients
- ability to communicate
- good communication skills key in dealing with many types of entities – parents,
coaches, administrators, athletes
- intellectual curiosity
- always learning – there is always something new out there or a better way to
do something
- ethics
- must always act with the highest standards

20. The Sports Medicine Team
Urologist
Cardiologist
Coach
Team Dentist
Allergist
Athletic Trainer
Physical Therapist
Neurologist
Athlete
Registered Dietitian
Equipment Manager
Team Physician
Primary Care Physician
Podiatrist
Parent
Chiropractor
Urologist

21. National Athletic Training Certification - Requirements
College students must enter a program that is CAATE certified.
18 programs in Texas (16 undergraduate, 2 entry-level master)
TCU, UTA, UT, TTU, Baylor, Texas State to name a few
Website for CAATE

22. CAATE programs 12 area that you will master by the time you graduate
Risk management and injury prevention
Pathology of injuries and illnesses
Orthopedic clinical examination and diagnoses
Medical conditions and disabilities
Acute care of injuries and illnesses
Therapeutic modalities
Conditioning and rehabilitative exercise
Pharmacology
Psychosocial intervention and referral
Nutritional aspects of injuries and illnesses
Health care administration
Professional development and responsibility

23. Certification Complete CAATE program Proof of graduation from school
Endorsement from CAATE program
CPR/first aid certified
Pass certification test

24. State Licensure
45 states have some type of licensure, registration, certification at the state level to protect athletic trainers.
32 states have licensure
Licensure the most restrictive (which is good)
For licensure you must meet a minimum level of requirements to work in the state or you cannot practice as an athletic trainer
Some use there own test; some use the BOC test
Texas has there own test
Passing test does not allow you to work outside the state of Texas

25. Review/Clinical application exercises
An athletic trainer has taken a job working in a sports medicine clinic that has four physical therapists and two PTA’s. The clinic has never employed an AT before, and there is uncertainty among the PT’s as to exactly the role the athletic trainer will play in the function of the clinic
How does the role of the athletic trainer working in a clinic differ from the responsibilities of the athletic trainer working in a university or secondary setting?

26. Clinical application exercise #2
A high school is looking into hiring there first athletic trainer. However the administrators do not completely understand why an athletic trainer may be more beneficial for their athletes than an EMT.
What reasons should the local athletic trainers use to persuade the administrators to hire one at their school?

27. Clinical application exercise #3
A basketball player suffers a grade 2 ankle sprain – after 3 weeks of rehab most of the pain and swelling has been eliminated. The athlete is anxious to get back and subsequent injuries to teammates have placed pressure on the coach to want the player back quickly. Unfortunately the player is still unable to perform basketball skills, cutting and jumping.
Who is responsible for making the decision regarding when the athlete can fully return to practice and game situations?

28. Clinical application exercise #4
A young athletic trainer has just taken their first job at a high school, the school administrators are concerned about the number of athletes who get hurt playing various sports. They have charged the athletic trainer with the task of developing a program that can effectively help prevent of injury to athletes in all sports at the school.
What actions can the athletic trainer take to reduce the number of injuries and to minimize the risk of injury in competitive athletes at the school?

29. Clinical application exercise #5
A second semester college sophomore has decided that she is interested in becoming a certified athletic trainer. She happens to attend a school that has an advanced level athletic training but not a entry level program.
How can this student effectively achieve her goal of becoming a certified athletic trainer?

30. Clinical application exercise #6
A certified athletic trainer moves to a different state to take a new job. She discovers that in that state the ATC must be licensed to practice athletic training.
Since she was registered as an athletic trainer in the other state she wonders if she must go through the process of getting a license in her new state?