What Is the Goal of an Athletic Trainer?

Athletic trainers are healthcare workers who use their expertise to prevent client injury as well as diagnose and treat the injuries that occur. They team up with doctors to provide the best preventative measures and healthcare solutions for their clients. Although athletic trainers perform their jobs in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, physician offices, high schools, universities, gyms, industrial workplaces and the military, the most visible trainers work with the professional athletes of spectator sports.

  1. Educational Background

    • Athletic trainers must minimally hold a bachelor's degree, but most (about 70 percent) go on to earn their master's degree. In 47 states, they must be licensed or registered through the Board of Certification. Extensive education is an athletic trainer's first asset for prevention and treatment of injury in their clients; according to the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA), athletic trainers are the "only health care professionals whose expertise in prevention ranges from minor sprains to catastrophic head and neck injuries and from minor illnesses to exertional heat syndrome."

    Injury Prevention

    • Prevention of client illness and injury is one of the most important goals of an athletic trainer. He assesses clients' total physical health, including body composition, strength endurance, cardiovascular fitness and flexibility. He will then design individualized fitness plans to strengthen weak areas and decrease risk of injury. Depending on a client's specific job requirements, a trainer might have to assess the dangers of her physical workplace and suggest changes to prevent potential accidents. Trainers' prevention work also includes educating their clients on specific nutritional needs for the jobs they perform. In some cases, this includes education on proper fluid intake.

    Clinical Diagnosis

    • Like a physician, athletic trainers evaluate and diagnose sick or injured clients. Their high level of education allows them to assess an extensive range of medical conditions. A trainer will consult the expertise of another health care professional in order to thoroughly take care of a client, if necessary. Some athletic trainers perform their work under physician direction at all times, while others have a more collaborative relationship with a whole team of health care professionals. After diagnosis, athletic trainers lay out treatment plans for their clients. One of their most important goals is to implement medical care that allows for a functional recovery.

    Emergency Care

    • Athletic trainers are fully capable of performing emergency care; in most cases they're the first to arrive on the scene and assess their client's condition. In many cases, such as within a university's football team, it's the athletic trainer who has set up the team's emergency procedure protocol, which he then follows. Such procedures include use of CPR, AED, control of bleeding and body temperature. The trainer will assess and treat head traumas, respiratory problems such as acute asthma, seizures and musculoskeletal, spinal cord, nerve and internal injuries.

    Treatment

    • Based on her assessment of a client's injury or illness, an athletic trainer sets a course of treatment which she will reassess and modify as needed during the healing process. One of the main goals is to help a client heal properly while remaining as functional, or active, as possible. Trainers are educated in a wide variety of treatment methods including massage, muscle energy techniques, restorative joint-range and muscle-extensibility techniques, as well as other types of treatments like medication, splints and hot and cold packs. It's important for athletic trainers to educate their clients about the treatment process in order to facilitate healing.