It's been a pretty good week in my corner of the world. Despite playing 11 sets of volleyball in less than 24 hours everyone has remained relatively healthy. Wanting to stick with the quasi-educational theme of my postings I thought I might discuss my profession. Or more to the point, What is a Certified Athletic Trainer? Basically, a Certified Athletic Trainer is a subject matter expert on orthopedic injuries (injuries occurring to the muscles, bones and joints). There are six domains of practice in the profession: 1. injury prevention, 2. immediate care, 3. injury evaluation, 4. rehabilitation of injury, 5. professional development (continuing education) and 6. administrative responsibilities. To be eligible to sit for the Board of Certification exam candidates must obtain their BS in Athletic Training from an accredited Athletic Training Education Program. The exam is based on the six domains of practice and carries only about a 40% pass rate. Not exactly an easy test. While educational program design will vary slightly, highlights of the coursework include: gross anatomy (with cadaver dissection), upper/lower extremity injury evaluation, therapeutic modalities, biomechanics, emergency management of athletic injury, therapeutic exercise, and injury rehabilitation. To clear up a common misconception, Athletic Trainers are not the people who work with athletes in the gym. Athletic Trainers are Allied Health Professionals (the same category as nurses, physical therapists, etc.) as recognized by the American Medical Association. In case you can't tell, I love my profession. There is nothing more satisfying to me than to be there at the moment of injury with an athlete in pain who is looking to you for help, figuring out what is wrong, helping them through rehab and seeing them play again. That's what it's all about!
But enough serious talk. I'm stepping down off my soapbox.
In my last edition I forgot to mention the friendly rivalry brewing between yours truly and one Leah Perry. In Colorado she talked some serious trash about her foosball skills before being handed a 10-0 thrashing. Perhaps you should stick to volleyball LP. Painfully, my good fortune did not hold out during a hotly contested game of UNO between matches. Touche.
I'm certain this struggle will continue this coming weekend when we make the arduous journey to West Florida. Eight hours on a bus with not a whole lot to do.
Tune in next week for another edition of Chris' Corner.
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Chris, we couldn't do what we do without you! You are the best!
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