Every year, athletic trainers across the country celebrate National Athletic Training Month. In honor of that, I would like to share some thoughts that are a bit off the typical narrative of this blog. I am very proud to be a member of a unique profession that I feel fits me well. Over the summer I fell into the YouTube rabbit hole and discovered a video about a term I had not heard before; Polymath. A polymath is a term for a person who's knowledge is spread across various fields and is used to solve various problems.
Leonardo Da Vinci was the example used in the video. Da Vinci is difficult to specifically define. He is an artist, engineer, biologist, chemist, mathematician, and inventor. Arguably the most famous talent that he had was his ability to diversify his knowledge in order to solve problems. He drew on aspects of several disciplines to create the works he is famous for. In order to design his machines, he needed to learn how to draw and learn the mathematics behind them. In order to paint, he had to learn the chemistry behind making his own supplies.
Fast forward to present times. Athletic trainers function as polymaths in their respective settings. One of my former instructors would describe athletic trainers as the jack of all trades but the master of none. After a decade practicing, I understand what he means. An athletic trainer isn't solely a physical therapist, a strength and conditioning coach, a sports coach, a mental health provider, a nurse, a physician's assistant, a nutritionist, or an emergency medical technician, but they do encompass parts of each of those professions depending on their respective settings. Furthermore, an athletic trainer may also be called upon to be an administrator, an educator, an equipment manager, a researcher, and even a travel agent. Perhaps this is part of the reason that our profession is so poorly defined and poorly understood outside of our specific settings.
I do not mean to take away or lessen the importance of any of the aforementioned professionals. As an athletic trainer, I do not feel comfortable or qualified to work with the diverse population and range of patients that a physical therapist would, but I do take my athletes through rehabilitation. I do not feel comfortable leading an entire team through a year long weight room progression, but I do work with strength and conditioning coaches to adjust workouts and correct movement patterns. I could go on for everyone of the professions I listed before with examples of how athletic trainers dip their toes in the proverbial water of knowledge of each of these professions holds.
I do not believe that an athletic trainer's role is to specialize in any one particular area. I think that our value comes from communicating and connecting. Consider an injury to one of my athletes. I initially evaluate the athlete. I explain my evaluation and subsequent plan to the athlete, making sure to use vocabulary that properly explains the situation without unnecessary medical jargon. I share that information with the coaching staff where I must consider the implications on the team as a whole in addition to the individual athlete's care. I communicate my evaluation and plan to the physicians where I must use the most appropriate medical terminology to clearly describe the scenario. As the rehabilitation process continues, I must be the go between for the athlete, coach, and medical team. I figure out how to roll rehabilitation exercises into practice scenarios. I figure out how to progress an athlete that is not available to play back to a role where he is ready to help the team.
While working in affiliated baseball, we were required to oversee travel including hotels, bus trips, itineraries, and air travel. There were countless other people behind the scenes that helped us with these tasks, however, we had to act as the point person for all of this. In the thick of it we often struggled to wrap our heads around why this was on our plate. Individually, it usually wasn't very hard, but collectively it was, for lack of a better phrase, a pain in the ass. Looking back, these experiences helped me to be more prepared and well rounded as I moved into different settings and professional situations. I do not wish to return to checking luggage at 6:00 am on a travel day but I do value the experience and the work of those before me that paved the way for us to be better established as clinicians.
It is difficult to properly define an athletic trainer's role because of the diversity of education and experiences involved. I acknowledge the bias in my next statement but I truly do believe we are tremendously valuable in our work settings and I hope to see those settings expand. I do not foresee an athletic trainer painting the next Mona Lisa as the most famous polymath once did. I do see us being an integral part of the future of healthcare as we continue work within our healthcare systems. Happy national athletic trainer's month. That's all for now...from the training room.
Great post, Shane! Thanks for sharing. I hope all is well
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