There are many common misconceptions when someone hears the word "trainer". Especially because the profession is called an athletic trainer, most people assume it is just someone who knows how to work out and teaches you how to properly do curls and squats and tells you how many you should do. This isn't even close to what an athletic trainer does, that is a personal trainer. A Certified Athletic Trainer is actually a highly educated professional that specializes in athletic health care. In conjunction with sports doctors and other allied health personnel, and athletic trainer serves as an integral member of a well rounded athletic health care team. They can be found working for secondary schools, universities, sports medicine clinics, professional sports teams and other athletic health care settings.
Education
Certified athletic trainers have earned at bare minimum a bachelor's degree, usually in athletic training but depending on the university they attended they may have earned it in health, physical education or exercise science. While earning this degree athletic trainers study topics like human anatomy and human psychology. Certified athletic trainers work closely with athletic teams under appropriate supervision and are usually considered just as much a team member as the players and coaches themselves.
Certification
Certified athletic trainers are people who have fulfilled the requirements for certification established by the National Athletic Trainers' Association Board of Certification, Inc. (NATABOC). The certification examination given by NATABOC consists of a multiple choice test; an oral/practical section that evaluates the skill components of the "domains" within athletic training; and a written simulation test, which asks them how they would react to common work world issues in athletic training like a major injury or an athlete complaining about feeling ill. This last portion of the test is considered by most to be of the highest importance because it evaluates athletic trainers' ability to resolve cases similar to those they might encounter in actual practice. The examination covers a variety of topics within the five practice domains of athletic training. Those domains are:
- Prevention of athletic injuries
- Recognition, evaluation and immediate care of athletic injuries
- Rehabilitation and reconditioning of athletic injuries
- Health care administration
- Professional development and responsibility
Once athletic trainers pass the certification examination they use the designation "ATC" just like a doctor would use PhD.
Written by Michael S. Atwood