Athletic Trainer

Athletic trainers are people who help treat and prevent injuries for people of any age and profession. Their clients can range from factory workers to professional athletes. There are certain work qualifications and training that they have to follow. The nature of their work and its environment are also very important to an athletic trainer.

The Nature Of Work For An Athletic Trainer
Athletic trainers are people who specialize in assessment, prevention, rehabilitation, and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. They can help prevent injuries for people of any age. They can help treat people from any job profession, and they are recognized by the American Medical Association. When an injury occurs, they are one of the first health care providers on the scene. They are able to recognize and evaluate injuries and provide on-the-spot care when it is needed. They are not the same as fitness and personal trainers, as only athletic trainers are considered health care workers.

Athletic trainers advise people to use certain types of equipment along with protective and preventive devices like tape, braces, and bandages to help prevent injuries. They can also educate people on what they can do to help avoid certain injuries from happening. Athletic trainers should always work under the supervision of a licensed physician and with other health care providers when needed. They often have administrative responsibilities, which may include daily meetings with an athletic director or other administrative people to deal with business related issues among other things.

The Work Environment Of An Athletic Trainer
When it comes to the work environment of an athletic trainer, they are required to work with many people from physicians to athletes and patients to discuss treatments, rehabilitation, injury prevention, and other health related issues they may have. These trainers may work inside most of the time, but if they are working in sports related jobs, they can spend a lot of their time working outdoors. The job can sometimes require their standing for long periods of time. They must be physically fit if they are required to run, walk, crawl, stoop, or crouch while on the job. Some travel may also be required while on the job depending on the circumstances. Athletic trainers’ time on the job is anywhere from about forty to fifty hours per week. The trainers that work for a professional sports team generally work the most hours.

Athletic trainers usually have some stress in their lives because they are in an occupation that is health related. They are responsible for each of their client’s health issues, and sometimes even have to make fast decisions that affect the health and career of their clients. They are hard-working people, and their line of work is needed everywhere. They are considered to be an important part of all health care work.

Qualifications And Training Of An Athletic Trainer
The minimum requirement to work as an athletic trainer is usually a bachelor’s degree. There are many trainers that hold a master’s and doctoral degree. Almost every state requires that they hold some type of registration or be licensed. Some of the classroom training may be in nutrition, physiology, nutrition, anatomy, and biomechanics. A master’s degree or higher may be needed to be eligible for some positions in colleges and universities. A master’s degree can also increase advancement possibilities. High school positions may include teaching and may require a teaching license.

Athletic trainers need good communication skills to be around people on a regular basis. Athletic trainers deal with a large variety of people every day. They need good social skills to deal with clients, coaches, and parents, and know how to manage difficult situations each day. They should be organized at all times and know how to manage their time. They should also have a strong desire to help people with their personal situations. When it comes to advancing in their work, there are a number of ways to do this. They can go from assistant athletic trainers to head athletic trainers, and then on to athletic directors from there. They can eventually move up and assume a role in management. Sales and marketing positions are open for athletic trainers to sell items such as medical and athletic equipment.

The Job Outlook For An Athletic Trainer
With employment growing faster than on an average basis in the health care industry, prospects are good for athletic trainer positions. Athletic trainer employment is expected to grow each year for every occupation. The demand for athletic trainers will grow because of the advances in technology, the older people needing medical care, and the increased emphasis on preventive care. All job growth will be big in the health care industry including hospitals and doctors’ offices.

Positions that involve sports teams may be somewhat slower in growth because most colleges and universities already have a complete athletic training staff on hand. Athletic trainers are on site for some employers to help prevent injuries and provide immediate care and treatment for injuries that occur. These trainers continue to expand their services, and many employers use these types of workers because of the cost savings of being able to provide in-house health care. There is a strong demand for athletic trainers in every place outside the sports world. Every high school is making an effort to have an athletic trainer for their student athletes.

The Career Opportunities Of An Athletic Trainer
There are many good career opportunities for an athlete trainer. Each year this profession grows larger and is more in demand. Certified athlete trainers are usually high in demand and educated in the field of athletic health care, helping people in all different types of professions. Working along with physicians and other health care personnel, they function as a team in places such as schools, colleges, universities, clinics, sports programs, and other health related settings. In high schools, athletic trainers help prevent and treat injuries that happen during competition and practice. Many of these trainers teach at the high schools where they work.

Athletic trainers also work at sports medicine clinics helping patients with treatment and rehabilitation and providing athletic training coverage for high schools and colleges. They conduct workshops and other sports medicine programs that are educational. Athletic trainers on a college level can cover practice sessions and competitions that are home and away. They can supervise student trainers and also teach classes involving sports medicine. Athletic trainers on a professional level work mostly with professional male and female sports teams year round such as football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Other types of athletic trainers work for companies providing services to their employees. Athletic training is a large field and a very good career for many people.

Education Requirements For An Athletic Trainer
A bachelor’s degree is required in this line of work, and it is helpful if it is in athletic training from an accredited undergraduate education program. Most athletic trainers hold an advanced degree such as a master’s degree. Entry level education programs cover areas such as prevention of illnesses and injuries, emergency care, therapeutic exercise, assessment and evaluation of injury illness, therapeutic modalities, human anatomy and physiology, exercise physiology, athletic training program administration, nutrition, psychology, pharmacology, pathology, and health care administration.

Athletic training may also include classes in areas such as acute care of injury and illness, risk management and injury prevention, assessment and evaluation, nutritional aspects of injury and illness, pathology of injury and illness, psychosocial intervention and referral, general medical conditions disabilities, and professional development and responsibilities. One needs at least two academic years before they can train in the clinic. This training must be supervised. Such academic courses could be a practicum, an internship, a laboratory class, and a field experience course. A clinical experience can be in a hospital, a sports medicine clinic, the emergency room, a high school setting, university sporting event, or even an athletic training room.

Online Athletic Trainer Schools
There are a variety of online athletic training schools. Many of these schools offer distance learning programs for athletic training certificates or associate degrees. These online schools provide basic studies, which are designed to meet the needs of certified athletic trainers and several other health related disciplines. One can prepare to be an athletic trainer online by understanding prevention and treatment of sport related injuries. People interested in being an athletic trainer must be prepared for evaluation of injuries and for providing immediate attention to these injuries when necessary. There are a lot of classes that one must take in order to cover all the educational ground of being an athletic trainer. Some of these classes include basic knowledge and fundamental principals of nutrition, fitness, exercise, ethics, anatomy, medicine, and therapeutic applications.

Athletic trainers end up working as health professionals. These professionals work with athletes providing medical services and first aid. This aid is given when athletes hurt themselves at a sporting event or in training. Sometimes, even an athletic trainer must consult a medical physician if an injury is too severe. Training online to be an athletic trainer is very convenient for the student. The only problem with online training is there is a lack of hands-on training, but there are ways around this.

The History Of Athletic Training
Athletic trainers have been around for a long time. They actually have their roots dating all the way back to ancient Greece. Of course, there are a lot of differences between the athletic trainers of those days to the athletic trainers of today. The athletic trainers of today have access to much more extensive medical knowledge. In the days of ancient Greece, athletic trainers were mostly around to fetch water jugs or act as managers to a team.

Today’s certified athletic trainers are quite highly educated people. They are a unique class of health care providers who not only specialize in the treatment of physical injuries, but they also specialize in the prevention of these injuries. This is one of the most important parts of their jobs. Prevention is the key! However, it is not always that simple; accidents do happen, and these people are ready to treat whatever accidents come their way. The assessment and rehabilitation of their patients are their other main duties. An athletic trainer knows that sometimes the road to rehabilitation can be the most difficult one. Athletic trainers are people who are ready to help the physically active be safe and prepared for the physical activities!

A Day’s Worth Of Work For An Athletic Trainer
Depending on the location of the job, a day in the life of an athletic trainer can be hectic. There is a wide range of areas that people in this line of work may choose. They may work in clinical settings, at a school, on a sports field, or other sports settings, and they may work with all ages of people. They may spend a day preparing someone for a game, for their regular extracurricular activities, or any number of things. An athletic trainer’s main goal for a day is usually to make sure they are teaching people how to prevent injuries rather than having to treat them. Sometimes, treating an injury can lead to treating someone who is in need of long months of physical rehabilitation. Some physical rehabilitation is bound to take a long time, and a trainer knows this. So, once again, their main goal is to instill prevention rather than the tedious work of rehabilitation. Prevention of injuries is best for both the trainer and their client.

Certified athletic trainers are very involved in the day-to-day processes of the college sports team members or high school sports team members. A day’s worth of work in this environment means that they prepare a team member for competition, making sure that these individuals have the proper maintenance. In a day’s work, they might prepare athletes for a practice or a competition by bandaging, taping, bracing, or applying other forms of risk and prevention management. They may also evaluate injuries to determine a better course of action to remedy the injury. They are usually found implementing conditioning programs, for this is an important part of their job.


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