AthletiCo Athletic Trainers Treat More Than Just Athletes

Athletic trainers play a vital role on and off the field of competition preparing athletes for practice and games, evaluating injuries, and developing conditioning programs. Yet while the title “athletic trainer” seems to imply that these health professionals only treat athletes, athletic trainers actually work with a wide range of people.

March is National Athletic Training Month, and AthletiCo wants to reinforce the National Athletic Trainers’ Association’s message that Not All Athletes Wear Jerseys. Athletic trainers treat the athlete in you. 

Athletic training is practiced by certified athletic trainers, licensed healthcare professionals who collaborate with physicians to optimize activity and participation of patients and clients. It encompasses the prevention, elevation, and intervention of emergency, acute, and chronic medical conditions involving impairment, functional limitations, and disabilities.

• Athletic trainers assist work conditioning patients. AthletiCo athletic trainers are present in AthletiCo facilities to assist clinicians with patient care.  In clinics that offer work conditioning, athletic trainers work directly with work conditioning patients under the supervision of the treating clinician to ensure they are performing all the exercises with proper body mechanics.  In this role, athletic trainers focus the passion that they have for competition to work specificity.
• Athletic trainers work with performing artists. For years, AthletiCo’s partnerships with Chicagoland dance companies have been an integral part of its athletic training program.  Athletic trainers work closely with performing artists to treat and prevent injuries.  Educated to care for athletic injuries, athletic trainers are able to assist with the unique needs of professional dancers.
• Athletic trainers work with municipalities. AthletiCo athletic trainers have designed performance enhancement programs for community firefighters and police officers. Where strength and endurance are needed on a daily basis, athletic trainers offer their skills to educate in the areas of nutrition, injury prevention, and physical conditioning within each respective environment.
• Athletic trainers assist in physician offices. Certified athletic trainers assist physicians with taking patient medical history, assessing the patient, and reporting the findings to the physician. Once the doctor makes a diagnosis, he/she may ask the athletic trainer to arrange further testing, fit for bracing, or develop a home-exercise program. This creates a more efficient and cost-effective process for physician and physician offices.

AthletiCo is the largest employer of certified athletic trainers in the United States, providing injury prevention, evaluation, and treatment services to over 150 teams and organizations throughout Illinois, Milwaukee, and Northwest Indiana including professional sports organizations, performing arts organizations, high schools, colleges and universities, industrial and commercial organizations, rugby clubs, endurance events, golf events, and tournaments and special events.

Learn more about the various roles that Athletic Trainers fulfill.