Athletic trainers are trained to identify and treat injuries and illnesses of the muscle and bone, they strive to prevent injury by utilizing protective measures like tape, braces, and bandages.
Athletic trainers also create a treatment plan and manage the patient’s rehabilitation program for wounded patients.
These experts must also be capable of handling administrative tasks including keeping track of medical information and producing reports.
For those interested, this article provides all available information on an athletic trainer including the education requirements and career summary.
About An Athletic Trainer
Athletic trainers, or ATs, are experts in treating, preventing, and recovering from athlete injuries and they are usually the first medical personnel on the scene when an injury occurs.
Athletic trainers and doctors work together to create injury prevention and treatment strategies for injured athletes as well as emergency and follow-up care.
They help with the creation of food and exercise routines, assess athletes’ physical condition, and diagnose and treat players using their understanding of sports-related injuries.
To decide whether it is appropriate to resume training and competition, athletic trainers also serve as a crucial communication channel between the injured athlete, the treating physician, the coach, and even the athlete’s family.
Duties include:
- Assessing the player’s condition while collaborating with coaches, athletes, and medical specialists.
- Creating diet and exercise routines.
- Setting health and fitness objectives with athletes, coaches, and family members.
- Creating training and recovery plans for athletes.
- Diagnosing and treating players by using knowledge of sports-related ailments.
- Directing athletes to a different physician or other medical personnel.
- Helping and keeping an eye on injured players while they recuperate and make progress.
- Handling clerical duties like stocktaking, assistance with budgets, and inventory management.
- Putting on braces, tape, and bandages to protect against or stop injuries
- Drafting reports and instructions, among other administrative tasks
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Athletic Trainer: Skills Required
- Compassion
Athletic trainers assist patients and athletes who may be experiencing severe pain, so while administering therapy, they must show compassion.
- Decisionmaking skills
Athletic trainers are required to make educated clinical decisions that may impact patients’ health or way of life.
- Detail oriented
Athletic trainers are responsible for carefully tracking patients’ development and making sure they are following the right treatment plans or exercise routines.
- Interpersonal skills
Athletic trainers need to be excellent communicators to handle challenging situations. They must be able to effectively communicate with a variety of people, including parents, coaches, athletes, and doctors.
Education Required
Students in high school who are interested in sports training programs at postsecondary institutions should study anatomy, physiology, and physics courses.
Although there are no precise educational requirements for sports trainers, they normally need at least a bachelor’s degree.
Athletic trainer education often incorporates standard curriculum and clinical experiences for hands-on learning, whether students study at the undergraduate or graduate level.
Students typically enroll in courses on subjects like:
- Sports medicine
- Kinesiology
- Nutrition
- Anatomy
- Biology
- Physiology
- Pharmacology
- Evaluation methods
- Sports psychology
Students that are interested in athletic training can pursue a major in athletic training as well as kinesiology, sports science, or exercise science which are other possible major choices.
Numerous athletic trainer programs, including post-professional and residency athletic trainer programs, are accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education.
While a bachelor’s degree in athletic training or a related discipline is the minimum requirement for those who want to become athletic trainers, many have also earned master’s or doctoral degrees.
Trainers will study subjects including advanced clinical evaluation, injury control, advanced biomechanics, rehabilitation approaches, and therapeutic modalities at the master’s degree level.
Athletic trainers should be ready to take classes in kinesiology independent study, epidemiological research methods, quantitative methods, and metabolic analysis if they wish to pursue a doctorate.
Athletic trainers must first graduate from an athletic trainer training program that has been accredited and then pass a thorough examination given by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Board of Certification to receive the designation of Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC).
Licenses, Certifications, And Registrations
Athletic trainers must earn a credential either a certificate or license in most of the nation, while state-specific criteria may differ.
You can contact the sports trainer association or licensing or credentialing body for your state for details on requirements.
The standard certification test that most states use to license athletic trainers is provided by the Board of Certification for the Athletic Trainer.
Passing the BOC exam and graduating from a program with CAATE accreditation are requirements for certification.
Athletic trainers must follow the BOC Standards of Professional Practice and complete continuing education programs to keep their certification.
Salary And Employment Outlook
The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that an athletic trainer makes an average yearly pay of $48,420.
This sum depends on geography, credentials, and expertise because the jobs are competitive and the sector is very narrow, particularly for roles with professional and collegiate sports teams.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that the demand for sports trainers will increase significantly faster than the national average.
Athletic trainers can advance to become head athletic trainers, athletic directors, clinical practice administrators, or physical therapists with further education and experience.
Over the next ten years, there are expected to be, on average, 2,500 openings for athletic trainers.
Many of those positions are anticipated to be brought on by the need to replace workers who change careers or leave the workforce due to retirement.
Work Environment
Athletic trainers are highly qualified health sciences professionals that focus on providing treatment for athletes.
They usually collaborate with doctors, physical therapists, and coaches.
The athletic trainer works as a vital member of the healthcare team in colleges and universities, K–12 schools, hospitals, fitness facilities, doctors’ offices, and professional sports teams in collaboration with physicians and other allied health specialists.
Due to this, athletic trainers are able to treat patients of all ages.
Related Careers
1.Coaches and Scouts
Athletes, whether amateur or professional, are taught by coaches the skills necessary to excel in their sport.
Scouts identify potential new players and assess their abilities and chances of succeeding at the collegiate, amateur, or professional levels.
2. Chiropractors
Patients with health issues involving the neuromusculoskeletal system, which consists of nerves, bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, are treated by chiropractors.
To handle patients’ health issues, like back and neck pain, they use spinal adjustments, manipulation, and other clinical therapies.
3. EMTs and Paramedics
In emergency medical situations, paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) provide care for the ill and injured.
The prompt response and expert care that these employees give frequently determine the lives of people.
Responding to emergency calls, EMTs and paramedics provide medical care and transport patients to hospitals.
4. Exercise Physiologists
Exercise physiologists create exercise and fitness regimens that assist patients to recover from chronic illnesses and enhance flexibility, body composition, and cardiovascular health.
5. Massage Therapists
Massage therapists move the muscles and other soft tissues of the body while providing treatment to their clients.
With their touch, therapists help patients relax more, reduce stress, heal injuries, improve circulation, and relieve pain.
6. Occupational Therapists
Through the therapeutic utilization of daily activities, occupational therapists treat patients who are injured, ill, or incapacitated.
They assist these individuals in acquiring, regaining, maintaining, and improving the abilities required for working and daily living.
7. Physical Therapists
Physical therapists, sometimes known as PTs, assist people who are ill or wounded in moving more freely and managing their pain.
They help in the rehabilitation, care, and prevention of patients with long-term illnesses, injuries, or ailments.
8. Physician Assistants
Physician assistants collaborate alongside doctors, surgeons, and other healthcare professionals to practice medicine as a team.
9. Recreational Therapists
For patients with impairments, diseases, or injuries, recreational therapists plan, oversee, and coordinate therapy programs that focus on recreation.
To maintain or enhance a patient’s physical, social, and emotional well-being, these therapists employ several modalities, including arts and crafts, theater, music, dance, sports and games, aquatics, and community activities.
10. Respiratory Therapists
Patients with breathing difficulties, such as those brought on by a chronic respiratory condition like emphysema or asthma, receive therapy from respiratory therapists.
Their patients range from elderly adults with sick lungs to preterm infants with underdeveloped lungs.
They also offer medical assistance to people who have had heart attacks, drownings, or shock.
Conclusion
As an athletic trainer, you’ll do things like put on bandages and tape and, if necessary, give out medication.
You will decide whether an athlete may play again or resume normal activities when they have recovered sufficiently.
The military, the performing arts, educational institutions, professional sports arenas, and some industrial settings are some places you can apply to as an athletic trainer.
With the information in this article including the education requirements and career summary, it should be easier for you to decide whether to be an athletic trainer.
