Athletic trainers: What are they and what can they do?

By Michael Smuda, MSAT, ATC

When you watch your favorite sporting event—football, baseball, hockey, gymnastics, etc.—and a player gets injured, have you ever wondered who the people are treating the injured athlete? These sports medicine professionals are athletic trainers (ATs).

Many people know ATs treat athletes but are unaware ATs also treat people in emergency situations. In fact, athletic trainers are the only medical professionals who diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate people with injuries and emergency conditions that could lead to sudden death. They work under the direction of, or in collaboration with, a physician as required by state laws. Currently, every state but California requires AT’s to have a license or follow other rules about the way they practice.

The AT profession is recognized by the American Medical Association, Health Resources Services Administration, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as an allied health profession and identified to work within various settings. There are more than 60,000 certified athletic trainers working in the U.S. today.

Athletic trainers treat:

• athletes, sports teams, and performers at the high school, college, and professional levels,
• workers in industrial settings who need care for acute injuries and recommendations for future care,
• pre- and post-operative care patients alongside physicians and other providers in medical clinics and hospitals, and
• Service Members who have acute medical issues or who are recovering from orthopedic injuries and other illnesses.

In all these settings, ATs work to prevent and treat musculoskeletal injuries and prevent catastrophic injuries by providing appropriate patient care alongside other health care professionals.

For example, in January 2023 Rachel Leahy, an AT working at the U.S. Military Academy (USMA), helped save the life of a cadet on the USMA men’s ice hockey team. She was the first medical professional to attend to Eric Huss, who got a throat laceration from an ice skate during a game. Leahy treated Huss until he had emergency surgery to close the wound. Leahy chalked up her ability to handle the situation to her emergency-management classes and implementing the emergency action plan quickly and thoroughly.

Athletic trainers are an integral part of the military healthcare team helping Active-Duty Service Members (ADSM). Athletic trainers who work with military populations develop and implement injury prevention strategies, provide medical and educational materials to ADSM, and collect and analyze data to help the chain of command improve health and performance for specific units and troops. Athletic trainers embedded in Air Force basic training have been able to decrease lost training time and attrition due to injury, which helps save the military time and money. Athletic trainers also help Service Members learn strategies to strengthen their minds, bodies, and relationships—optimizing their health, wellness, and total performance.

In an effort to increase the holistic approaches to optimize Service Member readiness, ATs at the Injury Prevention Research Lab (IPRL) at the Consortium for Health and Military Performance (CHAMP) are working on several projects, including the Active Duty and Veterans’ Holistic Musculoskeletal Management and Enhancement (ADVet HOMME) project. Athletic trainers with the ADVet HOMME project help teach orthopedic injury evaluation and treatment to Department of Defense (DoD) and Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care providers using the VA Musculoskeletal Disorders provider education and training program. Trained primary care providers learn about and refer their patients to a prescribed patient-focused home rehabilitation program on the Rx3 platform, a publicly available resource to help people recover from common musculoskeletal injuries.

The ATs guide providers and patients through the Rx3 rehab program via calls and virtual meetings. These ATs also work with participants to set goals, build motivation, and provide resources throughout the patient’s rehab process to help them learn to make rehab fit within their day-to-day lives and operations. The ATs who are part of this project help guide ADSM through the rehab program and develop a relationship to help them recover from their injury. Developing a connection with the patient can improve outcomes in the short term (1–2 months) and medium term (about 6 months) during the rehab process—and help ADSM return to their daily activities. At the end of the introductory phase of this project, the ATs will have seen more than 100 ADSM and tracked their results via anonymous surveys.

Athletic trainers have a unique knowledge, skillset, and ability to treat medical emergencies, injuries, and general medical conditions that adds to existing medical resources in military training and operational settings. Currently, every branch of the military uses ATs in some way to improve Service Member health and performance.

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Disclosure: The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of USUHS or DoD. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The author has no financial interests or relationships to disclose.