It is almost time for our young adults to pack up their rooms again and head back to college. The question, what should I major always tends to be a challenging question to answer, sometimes even when they are about to graduate! I often get parents and patients asking about how do you get into sports medicine, what degree does my son/daughter need, will they be able to get a job?
There are many ways to participate in sports medicine. I started as a cross country and wrestling coach and realized that coaches play a very important part on adjusting the level of demands during recovery or injury recognition particularly with less acute and more chronic issues like tendinitis of the knee, ankle, elbow, or shoulder. Coaches are very important part of the sports medicine team, even though they might not be formally trained!
Once an injury has been recognize, often our athletes will be assessed by a certified athletic trainer or A.T.C. ATCs assess injuries on the field or in the field house, give immediate care to stabilize, determine triage if additional emergency services are required or formal physician referral is required. ATCs often start exercises, modalities such as ice, heat, ultrasound, and electrical stimulation, and are the experts in sports medicine for taping unstable joints. ATCs are formally trained with a bachelor's degree, certified by the National Athletic Trainers Association's Board of Certification. More information regarding becoming an Athletic Trainer and schools with athletic training programs in Tennessee can be found at www.nata.org. In Tennessee, athletic trainers are also required to be licensed by the Board of Medicine.
ATCs have close relationships with primary care physicians and orthopedic physicians, but cardiologists and pulmonologist can be involved as well. Particularly with contact sports such as football, ATCs work closely with EMTs and Paramedics when head, spine, or fracture injuries are suspected. When more in-depth rehabilitation occur, physical therapists become an active part in the athletes recover and return to sport. Physical therapist are also licensed in the state of Tennessee after completing a three year post-graduate degree. More information on becoming a physical therapist and the schools in Tennessee can be found at www.apta.org. Often Athletic Trainers and Physical Therapists are dually trained. The way to do this is complete an undergraduate degree in Athletic Training and then attend post-graduate work in Physical Therapy.
Athletic Trainers need to be able to work independently and think on their feet. In emergency situations, the ATC is most often the most qualified sports medicine particianer. The day of the ATC can go from 0 to 60 very quickly. Somedays are completely uneventful, where others are very busy. Most Athletic Trainers work with school systems at the high school or college level and therefore, the are able to get some recovery time when the school sessions are out. Schools with football, however, often have pre-season practices that can be very intense. The University of Tennessee will begin their "two-a-day" practices in the coming weeks and this will start with administrative physicals, drug screening, and breakfast as early as 6am, so that means the athletic trainers will be up earlier! During these practices, the team physician and the team orthopedics will be present every evening to help the ATC attend to the injuries of the day, so often the day is not concluded until o'dark thirty.
Particularly with two-a-days and hot weather sports, the ATC is responsible to coordinating hydration for the athletes, but also determining if the temperature and the humidity permit practice to occur. So you can note that the ATC wears many hats of responsibility.
There are many opportunities in Sports Medicine from Coaches to Doctors, Athletic Trainers and Physical Therapists to Parents.
Warren County is luck to have Tim Macintosh, ATC to cover our athletic training needs at Warren County High School. I hope that all parents and coaches will support him in his efforts and expertise to keep our athletes on the field.
Zach Sutton, DPT, MS, OCS
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