Sunday, April 22, 2007

Healthy Job Spotlight: Athletic Trainer

OHSucker's Healthy Job series spotlights jobs in the health industry that aren't the normal "physician, dentist, nurse" type jobs. Today's post is on something very dear to my heart...Athletic Training. For 4 years (3 years at Eastern CT State University and 1 year at NC Central University) I was a Student Athletic Trainer (complete with an ATC's version of the AMEX card...a Fanny Pack. Never leave home without it). To say I loved being a valued part of the Sports Medicine team would be an understatement. This is a great profession to get into, especially if you love sports and medicine (basically someone like myself).

So what exactly is an Athletic Trainer? A Certified Athletic Trainer (ATC) is a health care professional who specializes in preventing, managing and rehabilitating injuries that occur during physical activity. An ATC isn't a physician so they don't diagnose injuries or prescribe medications. In order to become an ATC a student needs to enroll in an accredited program (a big congratulations goes to NCCU who in 2005 became the first HBCU to have an ACCREDITED Athletic Training Program. EAGLE PRIDE!!) and upon completion take a comprehensive test administered by NATABOC (National Athletic Training Association Board of Certification). Athletic Training isn't to be confused with Personal Training nor are ATCs' duties limited to working with athletes. Really, anyone who engages in physical activity can be part of an ATC's work load.

To learn more about Athletic Training or to see which schools have accredited programs, visit Athletic Training's governing body, NATA.

Photo courtesy of NATA.org

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

athletic training is indeed a great profession. the hours may be long but it worth it and rewarding. dont forget, you can go through the preprofessional or clinical route.