By: Jess Larkin ~Copy Editor~
March is Athletic Training Month, as sponsored by the National Athletic Training Association (NATA). Athletic Training Month recognizes athletic trainers and educates non-majors about the profession. This month raises awareness for everything the trainers do, not only for athletes, but in other settings as well.
NATA, a professional organization for certified athletic trainers, offer prizes for contests throughout the month to athletic trainers who raise awareness of the complex work they do.
Athletic trainers that can provide the most submissions of proof that they promoted the profession through social media may earn a $100 Amazon gift card. The local athletic training association, the Greater Cincinnati Athletic Training Association, offers bragging rights to schools in the area (Xavier, University of Cincinnati, Thomas More, etc.) for having the best program in the city.
“I think it is a great way to get people to talk about the profession as a whole,” junior athletic training student Nathalie Towchick said. “Many people misunderstand just how medically oriented our work is and how much we are expected to know about the body. I get questions every day in the athletic training facility about muscular injuries, strengthening, bone injuries, skin abrasions, nutritional information, what effects different modalities (such as therapeutic ultrasound or electric stimulation) have on the body and questions about medications, and that’s just to name a few.”
The goal of Athletic Training Month is to establish athletic training amidst other medical professions, with whom they interact every day. Athletic trainers are often confused with personal trainers, though athletic trainers require more education, after graduation.
This month also encourages non-majors to learn more about the athletic training profession and how trainers utilize their skill outside of the realm of sports. A common perception about athletic training is that it only helps athletes, though they work in a variety of settings, helping to rehabilitate and treat patients.
“Everyone has something to contribute to Xavier,” Towchik said. “And this is our contribution: as healers, therapists (mentally, emotionally, and physically), pseudo-parents, teachers and friends to the athletic population. We’re the ‘jack-of-all’ trades in the healthcare field and that is something to be proud of and share with the world.”