This past Saturday, the Athletic Training students at USM hosted the annual Maine Student AT Symposium. Started by USM 9 years ago, the symposium allows AT students from across the state to get together to network, listen to presenters brought in to speak on pertinent topics, learn material outside their normal coursework, and have fun. Plus, it’s a chance for the hosting school to show off their program. This year the theme of the symposium was “Traditional AT’s in Non-Traditional Settings”. So often we as students are given examples in class that revolve around the traditional settings of the AT, which include high school, college, and pro sports. However, athletic training is quickly becoming a more and more mobile career with jobs in doctor’s offices, physical therapy clinics, the military, dance troupes, and prosthetics to name a few. With so many options available, it is important to look beyond the traditional AT setting for job opportunities post college.
A highlight of the symposium was guest speaker Derek Solloway, LAT, ATC, PES, SSgt; USMC (Ret.) who came from D.C. to speak on the need for athletic trainers in the military. With so much demanded physically of soldiers it makes sense that AT’s could prove vital to increasing productivity and decreasing time lost to injury. Students in attendance got to learn about how uniform standards contribute to injury rates and biomechanical deficiencies. It is a field of work that few of us have had much exposure to.
Overall it was a fun and educational day, and was a great way to build up the student AT community of Maine. USM will next host the symposium four years from now in 2019.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
https://usm.maine.edu/ehss/athletic-training-symposium