Students Cheer and Connect at Convention
The 76th NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo June 24-27 in Orlando brought students from across the country together into an integrated convention experience in the Orange County Convention Center. From cheering on their peers during the 16th NATA Quiz Bowl and participating in the student learning lab to mingling with experienced professionals, student attendees made connections and bolstered their AT education.
Third Party Pilot Resources
Steve Allison, LAT, and his staff at Divine Savior Health Care in Portage, Wisconsin, were featured in the June NATA News as a key clinical site for NATA's Third Party Reimbursement Project. Allison started working on achieving third party reimbursement for AT services in 2000, and his tireless advocacy efforts have allowed him to grow the number of athletic trainers at Divine Savior who are reimbursing for services from just one – himself – to five.
Sun Safety Handout Available
With the weather warming up, and more time being spent outside, now is a great time to remind members of your community of the importance of sun safety. To help you in this effort, NATA has created a sun safety infographic handout, which was featured in the June NATA News. The handout offers tips and suggestions as to how to have fun in the sun while protecting your skin, such as wearing sunscreen that has at least an SPF of 30 and staying hydrated.
New Preferred Provider: Go4Ellis
NATA welcomes its newest Preferred Provider Go4Ellis, a mobile platform created by NXTsports to improve youth sports safety by making it easier to directly connect athletic trainers with per diem opportunities at youth sporting events. This app allows event operators or anyone looking for an athletic trainer to provide on-site health care during a game, practice or tournament to post the event details to the platform. ATs can search the available per diem opportunities and pick those that suit their availability.
Read the Sports Medicine Legal Digest
NATA has launched the Sports Medicine Legal Digest, a new quarterly digital magazine focused on legal issues affecting athletic trainers and other sports medicine health care professionals. The first issue contains 12 pages of content related to liability and professional responsibility, including current case summaries, a Q&A with an athletic trainer/lawyer and a column about the importance of standing orders written by members of the NATA Professional Responsibility Committee.
Apply For USBJI Grant Funding
The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI) and Bone and Joint Canada are dedicated to increasing research of musculoskeletal diseases. To keep pace with the high and increasing burden of these diseases, a higher level of research performed by young investigators in the musculoskeletal diseases is required, and future levels of research assured. This is particularly important given the current environment for research funding, and academic careers.
HOF Inductees Reflect on Their Mentors
During the 68th NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo this June in Houston, NATA will induct seven more esteemed athletic trainers into its Hall of Fame. These seven individuals—John Anderson, MS, ATC, Fran Babich, MS, ATC, Tanya Dargusch, LAT, ATC, Katherine Dieringer, EdD, LAT, ATC, MaryBeth Horodyski, LAT, ATC, FNATA, Jeffrey McKibbin, MEd, LAT, ATC, and Michael O’Shea, MA, ATC, LAT—exemplify what it means to live a life of service, and were featured in the May NATA News.
NATA Foundation 5K Makes Fundraising Easy
A staple of the NATA Clinical Symposia & AT Expo, the NATA Research & Education Foundation 5K Fueled by Gatorade will take place this year at 6 a.m. June 29 during NATA 2017 in Houston. Not only is this a great opportunity to get outdoors and be active, it’s also your chance to give back to the NATA Foundation and support it’s many initiatives.
International Speaker Program Launched
We are proud to announce the launch of the NATA international conference funding initiative. This program supports athletic training scientists and clinicians who wish to present their research or intellectual content at conferences or symposia outside of the United States. The financial assistance provided by this program will increase global recognition of the profession and the role athletic trainers play in prevention and rehabilitation.
Licensure Clarity Act Reintroduced in Senate
The Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act (S. 808), has just been re-introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. John Thune (R-SD) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The house version of the bill, H.R. 302, passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on January 9 of this year only three days after being reintroduced.
Improve Patient Care with Data
By Scott Sailor
President, National Athletic Trainers' Association
Today's athletes are like finely tuned machines: Every aspect of their physiology is carefully worked over, each variance in the athlete's condition diligently noted. As athletic trainers, we are the tireless architects behind an athlete's health, both on and off the field.