BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College Athletics and Recreation Department proudly stands with the National Athletic Training Association (NATA) to recognize the important role athletic trainers (ATs) play in providing comprehensive health care and the impact ATs have on work, life, and sport during National Athletic Training Month in March. We celebrate the athletic trainers not only within our organization but also the more than 45,000 practicing worldwide.
On a daily basis, athletic trainers are health care professionals who prevent, diagnose, treat and rehabilitate injuries for active people in many industries, including sports, military, and clinical practice. They are recognized as allied health care professionals by the American Medical Association, Health Resources Services Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services. Through this recognition, athletic trainers have emerged into settings outside of traditional sports. The duties of many professionals such as firefighters, police officers, and those in industrial settings have an increased risk for musculoskeletal injuries.
Athletic trainers also provide and implement injury prevention programs, evaluate, treat and rehabilitate injuries, make return to play decisions for injured student-athletes, monitor environmental conditions, develop emergency action plans, and are first responders on the scene to immediately manage emergencies.
The academic curriculum and clinical training for athletic trainers follow the medical model requiring all athletic trainers to be board certified through the BOC. The transition of all CAATE-accredited programs to a master's program will further assist athletic trainers in being recognized and held in high esteem among healthcare providers.
As we all know, the pandemic has brought on many changes for everyone, and this includes the athletic training staff at Endicott. The new COVID-19 policies & procedures have drastically changed the way our staff has been able to provide care. From having limited appointment slots throughout the day available for injury evaluation and treatment to shifting responsibilities and helping at the testing center on campus, the staff has been challenged in new ways.
"When the vaccines were approved for emergency use and we were eligible to receive them as non-COVID facing health care providers, there seemed to be a new level of positivity and hope. The college wrote letters on our behalf, highlighting our roles as health care providers. Having our staff fully vaccinated was a great accomplishment," said Endicott Head Athletic Trainer Abbey Cahill, MS, LAT, ATC, PES, GTS
That feeling of positivity and hope quickly coincided with Endicott's Return To Play initiatives and the beginning of National Athletic Training Month this March.
"It's been great to see our student-athletes compete again," said Cahill. "These last few weeks have been fun and exciting as we all have begun to feel a bit of normalcy in our daily lives," stated Cahill.
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(Photo Credit - Ryan Atkins '23)
