Category: Professional Development

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Need For Athletic Trainers Amplified In School Sports

In an effort to promote sports safety across all levels of athletic participation, the New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association is currently holding its third annual “Athletic Training Recognition Week,” which runs through Sunday.

“We decided that three years ago, we would like to try to recognize our athletic trainers especially in what tends to be a more busy fall season,” said Aimee Brunelle, president of NYSATA and head athletic trainer at Jamestown Community College. “This way, we can get our athletic trainers recognition during the busy time of the year. … This is really geared toward the high school athletic trainer essentially”

Not only are efforts being made to commend and salute athletic trainers across New York state, but a great deal of time is being devoted to promoting public awareness in terms of the importance of providing appropriate medical care for athletes.

A recent letter from the NYSATA sent to New York state athletic administrators and school officials states that only about 60 percent of high schools nationwide have a certified athletic trainer and that number is even lower in New York state.

“We are trying to get more emphasis and more recognition as to the need to have an athletic trainer,” Brunelle said. “Of course, everybody recognizes it at the college level. We have one here (at Jamestown CC). I have two part-time per-diem certified athletic trainers and we have athletic training students this year. … In Chautauqua County, the only one I know of, besides what Section VI offers to varsity football, is Keri Newman at Jamestown High School. She’s full time finally now.”

Brunelle certainly understands the budgetary concerns that adding a certified athletic trainer could cause for high schools in New York state.

However, at the same time, the well-being of the athletes at these respective schools in her mind should be a top priority.

With the growing number of high school kids participating in sports and the high incidence of injuries, including concussions, it can certainly be said that the expertise of a certified athletic trainer can go a long way in helping athletes stay healthy and active.

“You have to weigh the health and safety of your athletes, how much is that worth? An athletic trainer is about the same cost of a teacher if you look at a full-time position, 12 months kind of thing. It’s something that I think schools have to look a little more carefully at.”

Brunelle stated that the Buffalo Bills usually get involved in “Athletic Training Recognition Week,” by making an announcement and the New York Jets and Giants usually do something during football season as well. A twitter campaign is being utilized during the week titled “#WhosYourAT2015” in an attempt to acknowledge athletic trainers across New York state. Also, NYSATA will offer funding for the first ten complete and successfully submitted Safe Sports School Award applications to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association. The Safe Sports School Award, according to an announcement sent out by NYSATA, is an NATA initiative to promote youth athlete safety, injury prevention, as well as athlete and parent education among secondary schools.

“As president of NYSATA, it’s really my goal to not only raise awareness, but to get athletic trainers into the schools,” Brunelle said. “We see with athletes playing more seasons and longer seasons and they are getting bigger, stronger and faster, injury rates are going up. …The nurses do great in the schools, but they are not there after school. The team doctors are doing great when they are there on the sideline, but you can’t expect them to be there every day. That’s what the athletic trainer’s role is, to be there every day after school at the practices.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.post-journal.com/page/content.detail/id/678207/

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NYS Athletic Trainers’ Association Sponsors 3rd Annual Athletic Training Recognition Week

While the inherent risk of injury in athletics has always been understood, research and statistics from the past few decades has revealed the critical need of taking appropriate measures for sports safety – including providing qualified medical and healthcare management, such as a certified athletic trainer (AT). With their education and experience in injury prevention, recognition, and emergency management, ATs can help identify potential hazards and risks to address before they cause injury, as well as observe and evaluate injuries as they occur, knowing how to properly distinguish more severe conditions and handle these situations when they arise.

Athletic Training (AT) Recognition Week should help demonstrate and publicize the vital need to provide appropriate medical care for all athletes, beginning at the youth and school sports levels. By recognizing certified athletic trainers (ATs) and the unique skill-set they possess to effectively fulfill this role, schools can to show their communities and peers that they value and take pride in providing quality care for their athletes, and set an example for local youth sports to follow. By publicly recognizing their ATs from Friday, October 9th through Sunday, October 18th with event-specific Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and via social media – #WhosYourAT2015 – schools can take a proactive role in promoting sports safety.

As part of the event this year, NYSATA is proud and excited to announce that it will provide funding for the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Safe Sports School Award application for ten NYS secondary schools! After approving the funding in July at the semi-annual Board meeting, the NYSATA leadership has been anxious to unveil this initiative. Currently, there are only seven Safe Sports School Award recipients in New York and NYSATA is well aware that there are numerous secondary schools in our state that provide an excellent standard of care to our young athletes and wanted to provide an opportunity for them to receive the recognition they deserve.

Over the past two years, a total of nearly 50 secondary schools and 20 colleges have gotten involved in promoting Athletic Training Recognition Week and the event went viral nationally on social media last year! Don’t let your school community be left out – find a way to participate in 2015!

NYSATA, founded in 1976 and incorporated in 1989, stands to advance, encourage and improve the profession of athletic training (AT) by developing the common interests of its membership for the purpose of enhancing the quality of healthcare for the physically active in NYS. Athletic training is practiced by certified athletic trainers (ATs), who have expertise in the assessment, emergency management, rehabilitation and prevention of acute and chronic sport-related injuries, illnesses and conditions, including concussions. Comprised of over 1,200 certified and practicing athletic trainers, NYSATA is the state-wide affiliate of the regional Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association (EATA) and District Two of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA).

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/10/prweb13011028.htm

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ATs Featured in Article on female athlete triad syndrome

You’ve heard of people who take up exercise to lose weight and then, their appetites stoked, erase their losses by overeating.

But among some female athletes, coaches are working to head off a different problem: players jeopardizing their performance and their health by eating too little.

The problem is known as female athlete triad syndrome, and traditionally it has been diagnosed when an athlete has disordered eating, osteoporosis – weak and brittle bones – and absence of menstrual bleeding. But the symptoms coaches are more likely to see are weight loss, lack of energy, declining performance and increasing injuries.

“It basically comes from dedicated athletes who just want to take being the best to an extreme and lose focus on the balance between the nutrition that you need and the effort that you give,” said Dan Quigley, who has been an athletic trainer with Manheim Township School District for 27 years.

Jessica Hoenich, who has been an athletic trainer since 1999, agreed. She has worked with groups ranging from the USA field hockey team to U.S. Olympic women’s bobsledders to her current assignment at Cocalico High School.

“Sometimes health is the last thing they’re thinking about,” she said. Some may simply be caught up in trying to achieve their next athletic goal; others are following bad advice. And still others might be influenced by the widespread unrealistic body-image messaging in American popular culture.

Preventive measures

The trainers like to take a preventive approach by incorporating information about recommended calorie ranges into their beginning-of-year talks about the importance of good nutrition for athletic performance and health. Sometimes it’s an eye-opener for their players.

For instance, said Quigley, a cross-country runner may need up to 3,500 calories a day.

“Some of them will look at me like, ‘Oh my god, this is so many calories,'” Quigley said. “They don’t realize how much they’re burning off.”

That said, Hoenich noted, given the plethora of opinions on what constitutes a healthy diet these days, it’s easy to understand how athletes could get off-track.

“It’s very confusing even for the health professional to say what’s absolutely right other than saying you should have a balanced diet of everything that’s out there,” she said. “You want to make sure that you’re at least having a mixture of everything – protein, carbs, fats.”

Cammie Atwater, a clinical nutritionist at Lancaster YWCA, said individual needs vary depending on the person, sport and metabolism, and that calculators are available to help people estimate how many calories they should be consuming.

“I played sports when I was in high school, and none of the coaches ever really mentioned anything about nutrition,” Atwater said, noting that she thinks awareness has improved since then.

“It’s kind of a hot topic right now,” said Francesca Kirk, an athletic trainer who works for CPRS Physical Therapy. Her company offers continuing education for trainers, she said, and female athlete triad syndrome is a topic that they keep getting asked to address.

Rising awareness

The awareness is partially a function of more girls and women playing competitive sports, the trainers said: According to Women’s Sports Foundation, their numbers have increased by 990 percent at the high school level and 550 percent at the college level since 1972.

Another factor is in a new, broader definition of the syndrome that encourages earlier action.

“The longer it goes undiagnosed, the more severe symptoms become,” Atwater said. “It almost mimics what happens to older ladies when they go through menopause. It can actually throw off their hormonal balance.”

That said, the trainers said they think public understanding of the issue is improving.

“I don’t see it as a widespread problem,” Quigley said. “All the schools in Lancaster County and the surrounding areas have athletic trainers at their schools who can see this; people like myself can pick this up, literally, and intervene.

“I’ve talked to certain athletes who I thought were on the cusp of this and have been able to give them some information, education, direct them towards better nutrition, better choices, direct them to professional dietitians if needed.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.athleticbusiness.com/athlete-safety/female-athlete-triad-syndrome-erodes-performance-br.html

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Gender bias decreases among athletic trainers

When the National Athletic Trainers’ Association was founded in 1950, there were no women in the profession. According to the association’s website, it wasn’t until 1972 that Sherry Bagagian became the first woman to sit for the certification exam.

Today, 47 percent of the association’s members are women. However, the board of certification recognizes there are still some areas of athletic training that remain gender-biased.

“There are some female head athletic trainers and some females who work with collegiate football that are head (of athletic training) of the football team, but it is still male dominated in terms of those critical positions,” said Emily Dunn, the associate director of sports medicine.

The board of certification says that although women are more prominent in the industry now, they hold just a few of the lucrative positions.

“It’s more male dominated in terms of administration roles or higher roles in the profession,” Dunn said.

Doctors who travel with the teams, called team physicians, are still a male-dominated profession.

Rachel Kennedy, the assistant director of sports medicine, said she doesn’t think she’s ever even met a female team physician. Dunn said she had only ever worked with one. Lehigh’s team physicians come through the Coordinated Health hospital network. This network is 41 percent female for athletic trainers, but females make up just 18 percent of the physicians.

According to the website, in July 2015 there were 7,629 athletic trainers working at the college or university level. Of those 7,629, Dunn, Kennedy and Catherine Rudio, a sports medicine apprentice, calculated that approximately 3,585 were females.

“The norm is probably if you’re traveling with a women’s sport, there’s a lot of female athletic trainers and vice versa,” Kennedy said. “In the three years I’ve worked with (men’s basketball), I’ve come across three women athletic trainers, maybe four. I’m not saying that it’s not normal, but you’re usually seeing more of the same gender.”

Dunn said men’s lacrosse has probably a 70-30 split of male to female athletic trainers, but men’s soccer is probably closer to a 50-50 split. With volleyball, it’s mostly females.

“It really is looking at the total differences in the sport you’re working with, the mentality of the sport, it is very dependent,” Dunn said.

Rudio said although there are some female athletic trainers working with professional sports teams, she believes it probably will never be predominately female. According to the board, there has been one female head athletic trainer in the MLB, one female assistant athletic trainer in the NFL and currently there is one female athletic trainer in the NBA. Kennedy thinks this will be the last thing to change.

At Lehigh, athletic trainers work with a team based on scheduling, personalities and other logistics, but not every school operates this way.

“Our staff looks at it more of who fits best with the team in terms of personality,” Dunn said. “There certainly are other universities where coaches preferences would be to not have a female with a male team. Their perspective is ‘I’d rather have a male with my males and a female with the females.’”

Kennedy said this feeling used to apply to many sports across college athletics, where, for example, coaches of male teams would want male trainers.

“There used to be a lot of resistance with that,” Kennedy said. “Coaches would not want females traveling with their male teams. Most of the teams here are pretty good. We’ve even had a couple programs have changes over the years, whether it’s staff changing or us changing assignments, and they’ve gone from a women’s team having a female athletic trainer to a male back to a female, and that’s not usually an issue.”

Dunn said the coaches at Lehigh are willing to work with any of the athletic trainers.

“We all work hard,” Dunn said. “We’re all willing to do the job. I’ve worked here for eight years and that has never been an issue on the docket.”

Kennedy agreed with Dunn, and said she’s never had to deal with this problem at Lehigh.

“I really have not had a lot of issues with cross coverage in terms of gender, and I know that not every athletic trainer can say that,” Kennedy added. “It’s becoming more the norm, you’re seeing a lot more women on staff than you would have in the past.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Gender bias decreases among athletic trainers

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New York Athletic Trainers receive awards

At their annual conference this past July in New York City, the New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association (NYSATA) announced Dr. Merritt F. Spear as the recipient of their 2015 Kent Scriber Recognition Award. Jarett Rhoads, MSEd., ATC, CSCS was also recognized for his many years of service to the NYSATA Executive Board

On Saturday, July 11, 2015, during the annual New York State Athletic Trainers’ Association (NYSATA) conference at Langone Medical Center in New York City, NYSATA was proud to recognize Dr. Merritt F. Spear as the 2015 recipient of the Kent Scriber Recognition Award. NYSATA’s Kent Scriber Recognition Award, named after long-time NYSATA member and Ithaca College athletic trainer and educator, is considered for individuals or groups who are deserving of recognition for acts, promotion, support and/or service which positively reflect the goals and mission of NYSATA and the profession of athletic training within New York State.

For over thirty-five years, Dr. Spear has supported and mentored many certified athletic trainers (ATs) and athletic training students, while making a difference in the lives and careers of thousands of student-athletes. Dr. Spear was ahead of his time in understanding the role and value of the athletic trainer long before most other medical professionals and administrators in NYS and he has been an advocate for ATs since the 1970s. During his career, Dr. Spear volunteered at the Empire State Games (ESG) year after year, working alongside many athletic trainers and athletic training students from all over the region, becoming a common fixture and gaining admiration by athletic trainers. Those who were fortunate enough to spend time at the Games with Dr. Spear experienced firsthand how he enthusiastically represented the mission of the NYSATA – to advance, encourage and improve the profession of athletic training (AT) by developing the common interests of its membership for the purpose of enhancing the quality of health care for the physically active in NYS. Dr. Spear epitomizes the very best of what any organization would want in a team physician – and he has served as an inspiration to those he has worked alongside.

Dr. Spear deserves to be recognized for his contributions to the athletic training profession and his encouragement and care of so many. His constant guidance, insight and benevolence have made a difference to the AT profession. The Empire State Games were an opportunity for him to educate the public as well as foster a relationship between physicians and residents from an assortment of specialties with athletic trainers. He firmly believed that for team physicians or sports medicine specialists to succeed in their practice, they needed to understand the key role the athletic trainer played on the health care team.

Dr. Spear is committed to the sports medicine community as a whole. In addition to his long tenure with the Empire State Games, he has been involved at SUNY Plattsburgh as Director of Sports Medicine, and has lectured on sports injury to various organizations in the North Country of NYS. He has also held several positions with the medical section of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), primarily in the Lake Placid area, and with the NYS College Health Association.

In addition to honoring Dr. Spear in front of the nearly two-hundred conference attendees, NYSATA also recognized Jarett Rhoads, MSEd., ATC, CSCS for his tenure of service to the NYSATA Executive Board, specifically for his role as NYSATA Secretary that spanned nearly a decade. Rhoads has also held committee positions with Public Relations and Governmental Affairs, and currently serves as the Chair of the Secondary School Committee.

NYSATA, founded in 1976 and incorporated in 1989, stands to advance, encourage and improve the profession of athletic training (AT) by developing the common interests of its membership for the purpose of enhancing the quality of healthcare for the physically active in NYS. Athletic training is practiced by certified athletic trainers (ATs), who have expertise in the assessment, emergency management, rehabilitation and prevention of acute and chronic sport-related injuries, illnesses and conditions, including concussions. Comprised of over 1,200 certified and practicing athletic trainers, NYSATA is the state-wide affiliate of the regional EATA and District Two of the NATA.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.benzinga.com/pressreleases/15/08/p5801534/nys-athletic-trainers-association-presents-recognition-awards-at-annual#ixzz3kUrUdsDy

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Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society (PATS) to sponsor continuing education

The Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society (PATS) collaborated with the Penn State Hershey Bone and Joint Institute, and CPRS Physical Therapy at their 3rd Annual Central PA Sports Medicine Symposium on August 4th in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Over 250 attendees including medical doctors (MD), athletic trainers (ATs), physician assistants (PAs), and physical therapists (PTs) received continuing education units.

The collaboration between Penn State Hershey Bone and Joint Institute, and CPRS Physical Therapy had many professionals circling their calendars in early August to attend this engaging and affordable seminar at the Hershey Lodge. The Symposium offered six Board of Certification (BOC) continuing education units (CEU’s) for athletic trainers and included three Evidence Based Practice (EBP) CEU’s sponsored by CPRS Physical Therapy. A lunch and post-conference reception sponsored by the Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society (PATS) allowed for networking for all 250 attendees.

The planning for the Symposium starts in the late fall with Dr. Robert Gallo from Penn State Hershey and Lynn Brumbach and Jeff Shields from CPRS Physical Therapy deciding on topics, recruiting speakers, applying for EBP credits, selecting lecture sites, menus and creating a schedule for the symposium. Many of the topics are selected after reviewing evaluation forms from attendees of the Symposium from the prior year and trying to match many of the suggested requests.

This year, PATS Southcentral Representative, Wes Mallicone, proposed the idea of sponsoring the post event reception to the PATS Executive Board. Mallicone and Shields personally welcomed every attendee at the reception sponsored by PATS, which included complimentary beverages and Hors d’oeuvres.

During the post Symposium reception, John Moyer, PATS President, introduced the PATS Executive Board members and Committee Chairs in attendance. Moyer also reviewed many of the changes in protocols with the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) for the upcoming fall season, as well as general updates about recent EMS protocols and current PATS initiatives.

Mallicone, Moyer and Greg Janik, PATS PR Chairman, also handled a PATS display table in the reception hall during the seminar providing attendees many fun give-a-ways including mugs, magnets, bookmarks, and posters.

Dr. Cayce Onks, DO, MS, ATC said it best during one of the breaks noticing that a few extra seats needed to be added – “We are going to need a bigger room” – quoting the 1975 blockbuster movie JAWS with Roy Scheider – “We are going to need a bigger boat”. The goal is to continue to raise the bar and provide the very best in continuing education to our health care friends and professionals.

For more information regarding this topic or to schedule an interview with PATS President John Moyer LAT, ATC, please contact Linda Mazzoli MS, LAT, ATC, PATS Executive Director at patsexecutivedirector(at)gopats(dot)org

The Pennsylvania Athletic Trainers’ Society, Inc. is a progressive organization of licensed health care professionals who work under the direction of a licensed physician. Our society continues to increase public awareness and education regarding Athletic Trainers and the Athletic Training profession while serving as the premier source of information for public safety, injury and illness prevention, early intervention, patient care, and healthcare delivery for the physically active in the Commonwealth.

“The Keystone to a Healthy and Physically Active Life”

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/08/prweb12924655.htm

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2015/08/27/pennsylvania-athletic-trainers%E2%80%99-society-pats-provides-sponsorship-3rd-annual-central-pa-s#axzz3k1O5TEgI

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Seminar to focus on treating injured athletes on field

If you work with athletes in any sport where they wear equipment, there’s important, new, information.

Injured players could suffer more damage if new medical guidelines are not followed, and a free seminar Tuesday can help.

New research is changing the way doctors, trainers, coaches, EMS and even other players respond to a football player injured on the field. The new treatment could mean the difference in a player being able to walk again.

“I think we’ve had more than our share, in the state of Louisiana, of catastrophic injuries, not just football, but again, in all sports. And Tulane University has taken the forefront long before the NFL came up with the Heads Up program,” said Dean Kleinschmidt, a certified athletic trainer and Tulane Program Assistant in the School of Medicine and Institute of Sports Medicine.

Until now, there was no consistent rule about when and how to remove the equipment of the injured player. Paramedic Elvis Smith is called to the field about five times each football season.

“One trainer might want to take the pads and helmet off, or the next one might say, ‘No. Leave it all on,”‘ said Smith, an EMS clinical educator at East Jefferson General Hospital and a National Registered Paramedic.

The new research shows why, in many cases, the equipment should be removed by a team of trained people on the field.

“It makes more sense for the people familiar with the equipment to remove the equipment as opposed to taking them to the emergency room, where emergency room physicians and nurses aren’t familiar with the equipment,” said Dr. Greg Stewart, a Tulane sports medicine specialist.

Still there are times when the equipment should be left on. And the way it is removed is paramount.

“If you take the helmet off, but leave the shoulder pads on, then there is a significant change in the angle of the neck, so if you take off one, you have to take off the other” Dr. Stewart said.

Coaches are hoping people across the area will come to Tulane for the new training.

“When you have good people, they know the procedure. They know what to do when something goes wrong. You know, it’s just a good feeling. You can rest easy,” said Curtis Johnson, Tulane’s head football coach.

The seminar is free and will be held Tuesday at Tulane from 7:30 a.m. to noon. Trainers, doctors, paramedics, coaches and lawyers are invited. For more information, call 864-2127.

 

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

http://www.wwltv.com/story/news/local/orleans/2015/07/27/seminar-to-focus-on-treating-injured-athletes-on-field/30757553/

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Free Evidence-Based Practice Category CEUs

Incorporating EBP into Athletic Training: Overview of Practice-Based Partnerships (.75 – EBP CEU)

This course discusses the role of athletic training within the current healthcare system and  the important role of practice-based research to improve the effectiveness of healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. At the point-of-care, clinicians can utilize the patient-oriented assessment model to gather data to aid in clinical decision-making and for supporting comparative effectiveness of athletic training services.  Working collaboratively to engage in comparative effectiveness efforts can improve patient outcomes, and add to the body of evidence, specific to the athletic training profession.

Health Information Technology in Athletic Training (1.25 EBP CEUs)

While the role of HIT and healthcare informatics in assisting in fundamental tasks of evidence-based practice (e.g., searching the literature and managing knowledge) is well-recognized in athletic training, more advanced utilization of HIT and healthcare informatics is not as prominent.  Despite the importance of the HIT and healthcare informatics, athletic trainers may lack the appropriate knowledge and strategies to effectively implement the use of HIT and healthcare informatics during routine clinical practice.  Therefore, the purpose of this 2-hour module is to introduce the concepts associated with more advanced usage of HIT and healthcare informatics in athletic training clinical practice.

Coming Soon…
Evidence-Based Practice in Athletic Training (3 EBP CEUs)

This course provides an overview of evidence-based practice and is designed to enable the athletic trainer’s clinical decision-making process in a manner that integrates clinical experience, patient values, and the best available evidence. This course will assist in providing the athletic trainer with strategies to enable them to search and appraise the evidence in a more succinct and timely manner, that will promote better patient care.