The dictionary defines Athlete as "A person who is proficient in sports and other forms of physical exercise."
In the United States, athletics is a huge business and pass time for many. NCAA has more than 480,000 individuals who compete as athletes in a huge variety of sports and the US has over 16,000 individuals employed as an athletic trainer. Not to mention all of the jobs that are created through social media operations, event organization, team management, coaching etc. Because of the large influence athletics has in American culture and life, its no wonder that "athletic trainer" causes confusion and misconception regarding potential patient populations and settings athletic trainers can work in. Confusion often stems from the fixation on "athletic" in athletic trainer. Because of this athletic trainers find themselves fighting for name recognition alone, let alone recognition as a health care professional. Athletic trainers are constantly correcting individuals who call them "trainers" "personal trainers" "coaches" etc. With the growth of emerging settings, athletic trainers have shifted away from calling those they work with "athletes" and towards "patient." This change comes from the idea that while a majority of settings athletic trainers can be found in is in sports teams with textbook definition "athletes," this is not the only place athletic trainers are useful. Any place there are active individuals, athletic trainers can be of use.
Examples of Sites/Positions Athletic Trainers can Work in/as: PT clinics, Physician Extenders, Surgical Aid, Phlebotomist, Medical Assistant, Industrial Settings, Performing Arts, Businesses etc.
I myself was guilty of this when I first began down the athletic training path. One of the main reasons I was interested in athletic training is because I was a very involved athlete in high school and wanted to pursue a career that would allow me to remain close to the sports I love. It wasn't until I began in the program that I started meeting individuals who worked in emerging settings or discovered that athletic trainers don't HAVE to work with a sports team. As a profession we need to do better at selling ourselves as essential and emphasizing ALL domains that athletic training covers. (as a refreshed the 5 domains of athletic training education and service are (1) Injury and Illness Prevention, (2) Clinical Evaluation and Diagnosis, (3) Immediate and Emergent Care, (4) Treatment and Rehabilitation, (5) Organization and Professional Health and Well-Being). Athletic trainers can utilize their extensive knowledge of prevention and immediate care to assist in industrial and business settings, using quality improvement assessments and ergonomic assessments to create a safer more efficient work environment. They can utilize their skills and knowledge of organization and professional health and well being to work with large companies to create readily available mental and physical care centers or tools. (i.e. google providing specified areas for decompression, stretch breaks, exercise etc.)
So how can we tackle the misconception that many have on who athletic trainers are and how they can be of value to healthcare? Instead of changing the name, which some argue is the best way, we just need to continue to prove our value and continue to expand into emerging settings. By providing exceptional care, like athletic trainers are capable of, and helping workers stay safe and healthy, businesses will function more efficiently and those affected will better understand the purpose and value of having an athletic trainer. Using this success athletic trainers can more easily show proof of the return on investment businesses and emerging settings can expect from employing athletic trainers.
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