by John Heck, ATC, Connecticut College

When one hears the term sports medicine they often think of orthopedic surgeons. However, sports medicine is an umbrella term used to describe a collection of professions related to athletic health care. If one were to examine all the domains that sports medicine encompasses, they would soon find that Certified Athletic Trainers are the quintessential sports medicine providers, as their breadth of knowledge and practical skills best embodies the term, incorporating many aspects of the individual domains into one profession.

Athletic training is a paramedical profession practiced by highly skilled health care professionals called Certified Athletic Trainers. Certified Athletic Trainers collaborate with physicians to optimize patient and client activity and participation in athletics, work and life. The practice of athletic training encompasses the prevention, examination and diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of emergent, acute, subacute, and chronic neuromusculoskeletal conditions and certain medical conditions in order to minimize subsequent impairments, functional limitations, disability, and societal limitations.

Certified Athletic Trainers must graduate from an accredited professional athletic training education program and pass a national certification exam administered by the independent Board of Certification to ensure they are proficient in hundreds of medical competencies. Additionally, while required to hold at least a bachelor’s degree, over 70% have earned master’s degrees. Certified Athletic Trainers are also required to complete 75 hours of continuing medical education every three years, and 39 of the 50 states require state licensure to practice.

Unfortunately, the title “athletic training” does not adequately represent the profession, and Certified Athletic Trainers are often confused with personal fitness trainers. This mistake is perpetuated by the common use of the term “trainer” rather than the proper, “athletic trainer.” Currently, athletic training is recognized by the American Medical Association as an allied health profession and is involved only in part with what one would describe as the training of athletes.

Certified athletic trainers working in a traditional athletics setting provide an extraordinary continuity of medical care, which is unique to the profession. Typically, when an athlete suffers an injury, the athletic trainer is on the sideline and observes the injury occur, then immediately performs a brief on-field examination to decide if, and how, to remove the athlete from the playing surface. If the player is not to be moved, the athletic trainer immediately enacts a previously prepared emergency action plan, and begins providing emergency care. If the athlete can be safely moved, a thorough off-field examination begins. Within minutes of the occurrence of injury, the non-emergently injured athlete has received two examinations, a diagnosis, and initial injury care. If the standard of care for the injury is beyond the scope of the athletic trainers’ practice, the athletic trainer will then refer the athlete to the appropriate professional. However, the majority of injuries are cared for by the athletic trainer from the initial injury through full resolution. Even those athletes that are referred to another health care professional for further evaluation or care are most often referred back to the athletic trainer, who coordinates and monitors the treatment plan for the injured athlete, for continued treatment.


Biography

John Heck is a Board of Certification Certified and State Licensed Athletic Trainer who currently practices at Connecticut College in New London, CT, providing sports medicine services for their intercollegiate athletics teams. Mr. Heck graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the professional athletic training education program at the Pennsylvania State University, and has also earned a Master of Science in health and physical education from the East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. He also holds additional certifications as a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, and Emergency Medical Technician.