NATA Now

By Greg Williams and Lindsey Schroeder

The NATA Education Advancement Committee (EAC) was established in 2015 as a committee under the Executive Council for Education. The mission of the committee is to identify short- and long-term educational research priorities, advance evidence-based scholarship and assess best practices related to athletic training education in order to enhance clinical practice and patient care. EAC aims to assist athletic trainers in the development and execution of their research agendas related to education.  

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many athletic trainers are exploring new ways to work, including telemedicine and online learning. As ATs work to find a new normal, NATA is here to help.

The NATA Secondary Schools Athletic Trainers’ Committee has created the COVID-19: Remote Work Checklist for Secondary School ATs, which outlines suggestions and supportive resources to guide secondary school ATs as they continue to impact health care from afar during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, athletic trainers have stepped up to help their local health care systems in multiple ways, including screening, telemedicine and infrastructure. NATA will share what athletic trainers everywhere are doing to care for their patients, communities and themselves during this time.

Editor's note: In honor of Women’s History Month this March, NATA would like to celebrate all women athletic trainers making a difference in the profession and their patients’ lives through a monthlong blog series. Julie Frymyer, DPT, MS, ATC, Tiffany Morton, MS, LAT, ATC, and Laura A. McCabe, LAT, ATC, were also featured on the NATA Now blog prior to the Super Bowl.

For the first time in Super Bowl history, three female athletic trainers were on the sidelines providing health care to players.

Editor's note: In honor of National Athletic Training Month, NATA is conducting a blog series throughout March that showcases how ATs use the five domains of athletic training to improve the health and well-being and their patients. This blog post highlights domain five, Health Care Administration and Professional Responsibility, and how members can embody this year’s NATM theme, “ATs Impact Health Care Through Action.” 

Finding even just a little bit of normalcy during these unpredictable times is the one thing many athletic trainers are striving for, and technology is helping make that happen. In hospitals, clinics, private practices and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, athletic trainers are utilizing telehealth technology to stay connected to patients and keep recovery and rehabilitation on track during the COVID-19 pandemic.

NATA hosted Prepare to Play February 29 in partnership with the University of Kansas Health System, Kansas City Chiefs and area Girl Scouts. This community service event is designed to educate area youth and their parents on important health and safety topics, promote general wellness and highlight the valuable role that ATs play in work, life and sport.

In order to help during these unprecedented times, and appreciating that many students need resources to prepare for the upcoming BOC exam, NATA, in conjunction with our partners at the ACES Preparatory Workshops, is offering our mock exams for free (a $58 value) for NATA student members until May 1. To access the exam, program directors can submit their students’ names and NATA member numbers to ki@nata.org.

Editor's note: In honor of Women’s History Month this March, NATA would like to celebrate all women athletic trainers making a difference in the profession and their patients’ lives through a monthlong blog series.

When Tina Carrillo, MS, ATC, was hired by Friendship Collegiate Academy in 2011, she was not only the first athletic trainer caring for student athletes within the 16 Friendship Public Charter Schools, but the first athletic trainer ever hired within the D.C. public charter school system.

Editor's note: In honor of National Athletic Training Month, NATA is conducting a twice-weekly blog series throughout March that showcases how ATs use the five domains of athletic training to improve the health and well-being of their patients. This blog post highlights domain four, Therapeutic Intervention, and how members are embodying this year’s NATM theme, “ATs Impact Health Care Through Action.”