NATA Now

The Professional Development Committee (PDC) is working on the development of a Manual Therapy Certificate of Completion. The certificate will be launched during 2015. Those wishing to earn the certificate will complete several online modules and will complete the certificate by attending in-person sessions. Within the certificate there will be three tracks - upper extremity, lower extremity and spine. Several ATs who are leaders in the manual therapy field are already engaged with Jay Scifers, DScPT, LAT, ATC, and Chad Krawiec, MS, ATC, of the PDC in the development of the certificate.

The saying goes "spring forward, fall back," but from we sit at the NATA office, the beginning of October has quickly turned into one of our busiest times of year.
 

The results of our presidential election are finalized, and Scott Sailor, EdD, ATC, has been voted by the membership to be our next president. He will take office in June 2015. Our sincere thanks to Russ Richardson, EdD, ATC, for his willingness to serve the association and to all the members who engaged in the voting process. 
 

NATA’s NPI contest ‘Are You Being Counted’ is finished, and we are excited to report an additional 1,727 athletic trainers now have NPIs. Congratulations to District Four for winning the “Largest percentage of members with NPIs” category and District Three for taking the “Highest percentage increase in members with NPIs” title. We detailed the full district breakdown in a previous blog post. 
 

NATA Partners with the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation to Shine Spotlight on Devastating Children’s Heart Disease Through Awareness Month

NATA is partnering with the Children’s Cardiomyopathy Foundation (CCF) for Children’s Cardiomyopathy Awareness Month this September. The awareness month will educate the public about pediatric cardiomyopathy, a chronic and potentially life-threatening heart disease that affects how the heart muscle pumps blood through the body.
 

We're almost three weeks into the NATA presidential election, and our latest numbers show that only 12 percent of our membership has voted so far. If you're one of those 12 percent, we encourage you to display our "I voted" badge on social media to encourage your fellow athletic trainers to follow suit. Just right click the badge below and save it to your own computer so you can post it or share it anywhere you see fit. 

Voting Protocol:

Hawaii Baptist Academy’s Sam Lee, ATC, recently sent us an email sharing his excitement about earning a Safe Sports School Award.
 
In that email, Sam wrote: “Thanks for allowing us, helping us, enabling and empowering us to do something good for our community; not so much for the individual glory, but that people might see what a wonderful resource may be available to them with athletic trainers in their communities.”
 

Health care systems and private clinics are in the midst of Stage 2 Meaningful Use implementation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Incentive Programs.  As hospitals and private clinics navigate these requirements, many questions arise around the athletic trainer and their role in the ever-changing landscape of health care.  As an athletic trainer, you should be prepared to talk to your current or potential employer about this issue. NATA has developed resources (detailed below) to help educate and support you in these conversations.