Athletic Trainer as a Teacher

So much has been occurring with many communities (including the medical) regarding concussions; their impact on the individual (both short and long-term); how to evaluate; manage and care for the pathology.  Athletic Trainers are finding themselves in the forefront in providing information to state regulators regarding the acute management and care of a patient who suffers from a concussion.  Many states are now creating legislation regarding who can assess an athlete for a concussion and who decides the return to play.  In addition, many professional organizations, including the NFL, NBA and NHL are re-evaluating operational rules regarding hits to the head, penalties (both team and individual financial penalties) and preventative measures that can be instituted.  With recent findings from the Sports Legacy Institute (http://www.sportslegacy.org/), concussion has gained much attention in the media.

As athletic trainers and athletic training educators, it is imperative that we continue to remain abreast of current research; the dialogue that is occurring between the medical and legal fields; and how the changes may either positively or negatively affect our ability to provide care to patients.  Further, as athletic training educators, we need to continue to ensure future professionals have the capability to educate their constituents and patients with regard to  health issues that are germane to their populations they treat, in this case concussion.  As CAATE Accredited programs, we realize being able to secure and disseminate educational information is something that must be included in our curriculum. I believe, however, that as educators we need to help our students to ‘think outside the box’ as they prepare to educate others.  Future professionals  need to take into account a variety of issues to create effective strategies that will be serve and meet their populations.  Such things as literacy level of their audience, primary language spoken and read, accessibility to their population.  For example, are you planning a face-to-face discussion?  If so, does your population have the means to get to you?  Do they have time to take away from work? Family responsibilities?  If you are looking at presenting information with the use of technology, does your population have access to computers?  How do they value the use of computers with regard to education?  Are they ‘tech savvy’?

It is my opinion that as an athletic trainer, we are an educator – be it formally in the classroom, or informally through educating patients, parents, caregivers, administrators and or coaches.  As such, we need to be sure to possess the skills to effectively reach our audience.