Member Resource Library

Journal of Athletic Training Article: The labor market suffered a mass exodus of employees, including healthcare workers, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous research highlights the vulnerability of young professional athletic trainers (YPATs) to attrition. Investigating pandemic-related employment changes and their impact is essential for developing strategies to improve the retention of YPATs.

The CompensATion ConversATion podcast series will focus on what the task force has identified as the five buckets of employment: fundamentals, recruitment, advancement, retention and separation. Each bucket represents a stage in the life cycle of employment and will be used to identify potential strategies to address these issues. Murphy Grant, LAT, ATC, NASM-PES, chair of the task force and host of this series, leads the conversation with athletic trainers of varying levels of experience to break down the five buckets of employment. This episode features three NATA members with unique perspectives on the topic of compensation for athletic trainers: Kenny Boyd, MS, LAT, ATC, a senior associate athletic director for student athlete health and wellness at Baylor University, lends his perspective as an employer in charge of hiring athletic trainers. Ann Wallace, MSEd, ATC, NASM-CES, an associate director of athletic training at the University of Kansas, tells her story from the lens of someone who is in charge of hiring and onboarding new athletic trainers into her program. Emily Mulkey, MS, LAT, ATC, CPT, a staff athletic trainer at Youngstown State University, joins the conversation representing the young professional population to share how she approaches the topic of compensation with her employers. This group will lay the foundation for what will be discussed in the remaining episodes of this series. Tune in for a discussion with ATs across various settings and leave with some actionable items you can use whether you are an employee or employer.