Athletic Trainers in Sports Medicine: Roles and Impact As sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers likely play a key role in a part of your practice.
Athletic Trainers in Sports Medicine: Roles and Impact As sports medicine physicians, athletic trainers likely play a key role in a part of your practice. There is a wide range of duties that are fulfilled by athletic trainers. Some universities use athletic trainers in a clinical setting to help provide care for patients and may be assigned to one team or multiple teams.
Athletic trainers at smaller schools or colleges may care for all of the sports at that particular school and may be responsible for every student athlete. Others may be more interested in the research setting, work with surgical hardware representatives in the operating room, or even work to prevent injuries in a large manual labor setting. It is a very diverse field with many opportunities, almost all of which affect many sports medicine physicians or orthopedic surgeons.Student athletes are generally more physically fit, more engaged socially and are more committed to staying in school.
However, there are challenges and risks associated with being a student athlete. Around 90 percent of student athletes report some sort of sports-related injury in their athletic careers with 54 percent report playing while injured. Around 12 percent report a history of concussions sustained from their time on the field.
Catastrophic injuries do occur as well, with more than 300 deaths being reported from 2008 to 2015. Athletic trainers are the most likely to be observing the game and are likely the first line of medical care for these athletes. Most in the general public think of athletic trainers are the first to evaluate an injured athlete in the field of play.
This includes both games and practices, with most practices only being supervised by the coaching staff and ATs. Sixty two percent of organized sports-related injuries occur during practice previously, but one recent study reported around 40 percent of injuries occurring in practice in 2014-2015 (1,2). A well trained AT will be able to differentiate many things in less than a minute.
If you are experiencing symptoms that may be related to the role and relationship of athletic trainers in sports medicine practice, it is important to see a sports medicine physician. Early evaluation and treatment typically lead to better outcomes. Do not ignore pain or symptoms that are limiting your activity.
*This article is for educational purposes only and does not substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider.*
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