NATA Names Mollie Pillman as Executive Director
NATA announced that Mollie Pillman, MS, MBA, CAE, will begin her role as executive director Sept. 2. Pillman was selected following a highly competitive national search led by executive search firm Vetted Solutions.
Going Beyond the Stage: Learn More about the ATs in our February Cover Story
Scott Sailor Columns on USA Today and Huffington Post
Over the past six months, two high profile opportunities became available to NATA President Scott Sailor. He was given the chance to become a regular contributor to both USA Today High School Sports and the Huffington Post. Since last August, he has been writing for these sites and has produced a good library of columns on a range of different topics. Since you might not have seen all of these articles, we have compiled all of them here:
USA Today High School Sports:
Opportunities Continue to Grow for ATs in the Military
Musckuloskeletal (MSK) injuries are the single largest impediment to operational readiness in the military setting. Over 600,000 services members sustain a MSK each year, resulting in over 2.2 million medical encounters. 1-3 Along with the impact on readiness, MSK are the largest contributor to time loss and account for over $550 million in direct care patient costs per year.
Relative Value Unit for the Athletic Trainer
Sean Burfeind, MS, ATC, OTC and JJ Wetherington, MS, ATC, OTC, members of the NATA Committee on Practice Advancement Physician Practice Workgroup, have put together an informative document about Relative Value Units (RVUs) for athletic trainers working in the physician practice setting.
This resource defines RVUs, explains how they are used in physician practices and discusses how they are relevant to ATs. Download the PDF to read the full document.
December Legislative Update
Here is the December update from our Government Affairs department
Federal Legislation and Regulation
- H.R. 921: The Sports Medicine Licensure Clarity Act, has 103 co-sponsors, and the Senate version, S. 689, has seven co-sponsors.
- H.R. 829: The SAFE PLAY Act, has 43 co-sponsors, and the Senate version, S. 436, has one co-sponsor.
- H.Res. 112: The Secondary School Student Athletes’ Bill of Rights, has 34 co-sponsors, and S. Res. 83 has one co-sponsor.
Building Relationships With Your Local EMS
by Denise Alosa, MS, ATC
One of the most important work relationships you can foster as a secondary school athletic trainer is that of your local EMS team. You do not want the first time you meet your EMS squad to be while you are standing over an injured athlete. Take the time to connect with them regularly, and it will make those interactions on the field go smoothly.
Your Own Sports Medicine Conference
by Dale Grooms, ATC
Have you ever thought of hosting your own Sports Medicine Conference? It can be a lot of work, but is well worth the effort. These local CEU events are an excellent opportunity to create low cost, yet effective, learning opportunities for your local athletic trainers and develop deeper professional relationships with them. These relationships are not only fostered within the athletic training community, but also enhance the relationships between other professional within the medical community.
Degree Transition Webinar Series, Lesson 1
The Executive Committee for Education has started a series of webinars to answer questions members raised regarding the degree transition. Here is the first video:
Degree Transition Considerations and Programmatic Self-Assessment
Tommy John Handout
Spring will be here before you know it, and with it will comes baseball season. Because the sport consists of so many repetitive motions, overuse injuries are a risk, even for young athletes. To help you educate your athletes and community on this issue, NATA has created a Tommy John Handout (pdf), found on p. 46 of the January NATA News.