NATA Now

By Kim Diggs

It’s registration time! Join educators from around the country for the biennial Athletic Training Educators’ Conference (ATEC) Feb. 15-17 2019, in Grapevine, Texas. This is an opportunity for novice and seasoned educators alike to further explore the full scope of clinical education through lectures, workshops and showcases. There are even opportunities to earn CEUs.

Please “save the date” for the 2019 NATA Foundation Call for Research Abstracts for presentation at the 2020 NATA Clinical Symposia and AT Expo in June in Atlanta. The abstract submission system will open to receive submissions on Oct. 15 and will accept submissions until Nov. 1. A lot has changed over the past few years – here are a few updates and reminders for 2019.

Welcome to the first-ever “For Students; By Students” blog post, a way for you to keep up with the world of athletic training. Here’s what’s going on:

NATA is conducting its biennial Salary Survey this October and needs your help to ensure the athletic training profession is properly represented.

NATA is dedicated to representing, engaging and fostering the continued growth and development of the athletic training profession. To support this mission, NATA is conducting research about the work, compensation and benefits of athletic trainers. The information collected through this effort will provide athletic trainers with valuable information to help advance their careers through the NATA Salary Survey report.

This week At Your Own Risk, NATA’s public awareness campaign, will co-host two Facebook Live events aimed at educating the public on two important sports-related health issues: concussions and athlete mental health, and the ATs role in each. Designed to educate the public, these events provide easy ways for the AT to engage with their community and raise awareness on these important topics. We encourage ATs to follow At Your Own Risk and share these events with parents and community groups in their social network. 

After several years of collaborative work with members of Congress, the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act (H.R 302/S. 808) was signed into law by President Trump Oct. 5, a monumental event for NATA and the athletic training profession.

Hello students and welcome to the SLC’s To The Students, an open letter from ATs Care Part 2! ATs Care is a program designed to offer crisis management training opportunities for athletic trainers with the effects after a critical incident. This is a peer-to-peer system to assist ATs and AT students when dealing with a difficult event. This is the second of two open letters to students – the first was from Jim Thronton, past-NATA president and founder of ATs Care – and is from David Middlemas, EdD, ATC, CCISM, the current chair from the ATs Cares Committee.

UPDATE: The Senate passed the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act Oct. 3. The bill will now go to the President for signature.

UPDATE: The House of Representatives approved language changes made by the Senate and passed the Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act Sept. 26. The bill will now go to the Senate for approval. If the Senate passes the legislation, it will advance to the President for signature.

Hello Students and welcome to the SLC’s To The Students, an open letter from ATs Care! ATs Care is a program designed to offer crisis management training opportunities for athletic trainers with the effects after a critical incident. This is a peer-to-peer system to assist ATs and AT students when dealing with a difficult event. We have two excellent open letters for you, the first from Jim Thornton, MA, LAT, ATC, past-NATA president and founder of ATs Care. In his letter, Thornton explains the need and creation of ATs Care program.

By Kim Diggs

Every day, Cari Wood, ATC, athletic trainer for Redmond High School, in Redmond, Oregon, and former NATA District Ten director, wades through hallways brimming with chatting students and smiling faces.

On Dec. 14, 2017, RHS lost one of those smiles in the hallway. No one knew he was on the brink of taking his own life – especially not Wood. Almost one year later, she’s created a video featuring RHS faculty and students with money raised in the student athlete’s honor.