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• Athletic Trainer


  Health care provider who specializes in preventing, recognizing, managing, and rehabilitating injuries
• Athletic Trainers


  • Function as members of a health care team, which also incorporates and involves a number of medical specialties
  • Provide a critical link between the medical community and physically active individuals
• Pitt's Athletic Training Staff has 18 Full-time Athletic Trainers
• Early history of athletic training


  1. Evidence suggests that coaches, physicians, and therapists existed in Greek and Roman civilizations

  2. Assisted athletes in reaching top performance

  3. Athletic trainers came into existence in the late 19th century in intercollegiate and interscholastic sports

  4. Early treatments involved rubs, counter-irritants and home remedies
• Early athletic trainers


  • Charles Volz, 1899
  • "Bolicky Bill" Taylor, Philadelphia Quakers, 1887
• Rapid evolution of the profession following WW I

  1. Athletic trainers became specialists in preventing and managing injuries

  2. Dr. S.E. Bilik wrote The Trainer's Bible (1917)

  3. The Cramer brothers developed a line of liniments to treat ankle sprains (1920's) and followed the publication The First Aider (1932)
• Evolution of the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA)

  1. NATA started to come into existence in the 1930s, but then disappeared during WW II

  2. In 1950, the NATA was reorganized, and it has continued to flourish and expand
• With the evolution of the profession, a number of milestones have been achieved
• Milestones in the evolution of the athletic training profession


  • Recognition of athletic trainers as health care providers
  • Increased diversity of practice settings
  • Passage of practice acts
  • Third-party reimbursement for athletic trainers
  • Constant revision and reform of athletic training education
• Changing face of the athletic training profession

  • Traditional setting of practice included colleges and secondary schools, dealing exclusively with an athletic population
  • Today, certified athletic trainers (ATs) work in a variety of settings and with a variety of patient populations
• Terminology changes


  • Patients and clients versus athletes
  • Athletic training clinic or facility versus athletic training room
  • Athletic trainers - NOT TRAINERS
• Growth of Professional Sports Medicine Organizations

  • International Federation of Sports Medicine (1928)
  • American Academy of Family Physicians (1947)
  • National Athletic Trainers' Association (1950)
  • American College of Sports Medicine (1954)
  • American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (1972)
  • National Strength and Conditioning Association (1978)
  • American Academy of Pediatrics (1979)
  • Sports Physical Therapy Section of American Physical Therapy Association APTA (1981)
  • NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports
  • National Academy of Sports Medicine (1987)
• National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA)


  To enhance the quality of health care for athletes and those engaged in physical activity, and to advance the profession of athletic training through education and research in the prevention, evaluation, management, and rehabilitation of injuries
• The NATA now has over 45,000 members
• Other Health-Related Organizations


  • Dentistry
  • Podiatry
  • Chiropractic medicine
  • National, state, and local organizations
• All bodies have worked toward the reduction of injury and illness in sport
• Sports Medicine Journals


  • Journal of Athletic Training
  • Journal of Sports Rehabilitation
  • International Journal of Sports Medicine
  • Physician and Sports Medicine
  • Clinics in Sports Medicine
  • American Journal of Sports Medicine
  • Sports Health
  • Athletic Therapy and Training
  • Training and Conditioning
  • Athletic Training and Sports Health Care
• Employment Settings for the Athletic Trainer

  • Dramatic transformation since 1950, due largely to the efforts of the NATA
  • Started out primarily in the collegiate setting, progressed to high schools, hospital and clinic settings
• Employment Settings for the Athletic Trainer


  • Clinics and hospitals
  • Athletic trainers working in a physician's office/practice
  • Industrial/occupational settings
  • Corporate settings
  • Colleges or universities
  • Secondary schools
  • Professional sports
  • Amateur/recreational/youth sports
  • Performing arts
  • Military and law enforcement
  • Health and fitness clubs
• Treating Physically Active Populations


  Consists of athletic and recreational activities, anything activity that requires physical skills and utilizes strength, power, endurance, speed, flexibility, range of motion, and agility
• Occupational "athlete" patient


  Occupational, industrial, or worker is involved in strenuous, demanding, or repetitive physical activity, may result in accidents and injury
• Treating Occupational "athlete" patients

  1. Instruction on ergonomic techniques to avoid injury associated with physical demand of job responsibilities

  2. Intervention when injuries arise

  3. Correcting mechanics, faulty postures, strength deficits, and lack of flexibility

  4. Injury prevention is still critical
• Roles and Responsibilities of the Athletic Trainer

  • Risk Reduction, Wellness and Health Literacy
  • Assessment, Evaluation and Diagnosis
  • Critical Incident Management
  • Therapeutic Intervention
  • Healthcare Administration and Professional Responsibility
• Risk Reduction, Wellness and Health Literacy

  1. Ensure safe playing environment by minimizing safety hazards

  2. Conduct preparticipation physicals (PPE)

  3. Develop training and conditioning programs

  4. Select and fit protective equipment properly

  5. Explain important diet and lifestyle choices

  6. Ensure appropriate medication use, while discouraging substance abuse
• Assessment, Evaluation and Diagnosis

  1. Recognize nature and extent of injury

  2. Involves both on and off-field evaluation skills and techniques

  3. Understand pathology of injuries and illnesses

  4. Referring to medical care

  5. Referring to supportive services
• Critical Incident Management


  Administration of appropriate first aid and emergency medical care, CPR, AED
• Therapeutic Intervention

  1. Rehabilitation program design

  2. Supervising rehab programs

  3. Incorporation of therapeutic modalities and exercise

  4. Offering psychosocial intervention
• Healthcare Administration and Professional Responsibility

  1. Record keeping & ordering supplies and equipment

  2. Establishing policies and procedures

  3. Supervising personnel

  4. Practice within federal, state, and local guidelines

  5. Quality improvement
• Professional Responsibilities

  • Athletic trainer as educator
  • Athletic trainer and continuing education
  • Athletic trainers as counselor
  • Athletic trainers as researcher
  • Incorporation of evidence-based medicine
  • Participating and acquiring evidence for patient care
• Evidence-Based Practice


  Thalidomide prescribed for morning sickness in 1950s resulted in birth defects, currently used for treatment of various skin conditions and cancers
• Personal Qualities of the Athletic Trainer

  • Stamina and the ability to adapt
  • Empathy
  • Sense of humor
  • Communication
  • Intellectual Curiosity and Critical Thinking Ability
  • Ethical practice
  • Professional memberships
• Athletic Trainer and the Patient

  • Major concern on the part of the AT should be for the injured patient
  • All decisions impact the patient
  • The injured patient must always be informed and made aware of the how, when, and why that dictates the course of injury rehabilitation
• Athletic Trainer and the Patient

  1. Patient must be educated about injury prevention and management

  2. Instructions should be provided regarding training and conditioning

  3. Inform the patient to listen to his/her body in order to prevent injuries
• Athletic Trainer and Parents


  1. Athletic trainers must keep parents informed, particularly in the secondary school setting

  2. The parent's decision regarding health care must be a primary consideration

  3. Insurance plans may dictate care

  4. Selection of physician
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)


  Regulates dissemination of health information, protects patient's privacy and limits the people who could gain access to medical records
• The Athletic Trainer and the Team Physician

  1. Athletic trainer works under direct supervision of physician

  2. Physician serves to advise and supervise AT

  3. Physician and the athletic trainer must be able to work together and have similar philosophical opinions regarding injury management

  4. Physician is responsible for compiling medical histories and conducting physical exams, deciding on disqualifications, attending practice and games, and potentially serving as the academic program medical director
• The Athletic Trainer and the Coach

  1. Must understand specific role of all individuals involved with the team

  2. Coach must clearly understand the limits of their ability to function as a health care provider in their respective state

  3. Coach must be aware of risks associated with sport and provide appropriate training and equipment, and should be certified in CPR and first aid
• Referring the Patient to Other Personnel

  1. The athletic trainer must be aware of available medical and nonmedical personnel

  2. Patient may require special treatment outside of the sports medicine team

  3. Must be aware of community-based services and various insurance plans

  4. The athletic trainer and team physician will consult on the particular matter and refer accordingly
• Support Health Services and Personnel

  • Physicians
  • Dentist
  • Podiatrist
  • Nurse
  • Physicians assistant
  • Physical therapist
  • Occupational therapist
  • Massage therapist
  • Ophthalmologist
  • Dermatologist
  • Gynecologist
  • Exercise physiologist
  • Biomechanist
  • Nutritionist
  • Sport psychologist
  • Coaches
  • Strength and conditioning specialist
  • Social worker
  • Neurologist
  • Emergency medical technician
  • Osteopath
• State Regulation of the Athletic Trainer

  1. During the early 1970s, NATA realized the necessity of obtaining some type of official recognition by other medical allied health organizations of the athletic trainer as a health care professional

  2. Laws and statutes specifically governing the practice of athletic training were nonexistent in virtually every state

  3. Athletic trainers in many individual states organized efforts to secure recognition by seeking some type of regulation of the athletic trainer by state licensing agencies