March 31, 2013

SLU AT Program Experiences March Madness On Ice



March Madness extended well beyond basketball for the Saint Louis University Athletic Training program.  Dr. Timothy Howell, the Clinical Education Coordinator for the SLU AT program, worked as the head athletic trainer for the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Men’s Division II National Championships. 

Dr. Howell (far right) and SLU AT student Jessica Buschjost providing care for the SLU Ice Hockey Team.
16 teams from across the country came to complete in tournament which was held at the Hardee's IcePlex in Chesterfield MO. The tournament consisted of 29 games over a five day span. The tournament wrapped up with Michigan State University winning the Championship over Grand Valley State on March 18th.

March 21, 2013

SLU AT Student Relates Spring Softball Travel Experience

On the road again…..
By: Katie Mae Herington (MAT Class of 2013)


As my PY2 (2nd professional) year wraps up I’ve transitioned into covering softball at Lindenwood University-Belleville.  The last weekend of Spring Break I had the opportunity to travel with the softball team to help cover an eight team tournament in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.  After a colorful five hour car ride early Friday morning we arrived in E-town.  In a two year time span, Elizabethtown through local funding built a brand-new sports facility named the Elizabethtown Sports Park.  It is equipped with six softball fields, four convertible softball/baseball fields, two baseball fields, nine soccer fields, two turf football fields, a handicap accessible softball and soccer field. 


The facility was absolutely beautiful and set up perfectly for sports medicine coverage.  The facility provided one certified athletic trainer, and Lindenwood University-Belleville sent one of their certified athletic trainers and me.  The three of us covered three to four games going on at a time, which sometimes led to stressful situations.  Luckily we only had one girl from a visiting team take a trip to the hospital. 


Injury-wise the tournament was uneventful, thankfully, but it was a great learning opportunity  traveling with the team and experiencing covering an event with multiple games going on at one time.  A lot goes on with tournaments, so it’s always a valuable experience to learn how to prioritize situations.  Also the Lady Lynx beat one of the top NAIA teams in the country!  Thanks Lindenwood University-Belleville for the travel opportunity!


SLU AT Student "Flips" Over Experience with Gymnastics


By. Katie Schneebeck (MAT Class of 2013)

This year, I’ve had the opportunity to work at Affton High School with Becky Stigen. She is on her 20th year in her athletic training career.Congratulations Becky!

Becky Stigen ATC with SLU AT Student Katie Schneebeck
Along with her experience at Affton, Becky also works at the St. Louis Gymnastic Centre. It is a 21,000 square foot training center that provides instruction for approximately 800 gymnasts. Once a week, Becky and I see athletes and their coaches for injuries. Yes, coaches, who are flipping athletes all day get hurt. Because they do high-flying stunts on bouncy floors and hard beams, gymnasts are prone to many injuries. Every week, I work with a multitude of gymnasts from 5-17 years of age and injuries ranging from broken bones to wrist pain.

The first time I walked into the training center, a huge smile drew across my face. My sisters and I grew up watching the movie, Nadia, and doing cart-wheels on the front lawn. I’ve always wanted to be a gymnast! It is incredibly magical seeing these kids live their dream. While, the margin of gymnasts who make it to the Olympics is low, these athletes are learning very valuable life lessons within their teams. It is truly rewarding working with gymnasts.


The mentality in gymnastics is just like any other sport; they want to push through the pain.  Whether they are 5 or 13 years old, they are some of the toughest athletes with which I’ve ever worked. To give you a better perspective, a couple weeks ago, I prescribed 3 sets of 15 backwards lunges with a twist. The gymnast smiled at me and said with a grin, “We usually do 200 of those on each leg.” If you ever get the opportunity to work with Becky at the St. Louis Gymnastics Centre, take it! You’ll learn more than you can imagine.

March 18, 2013

SLU AT Program Enjoying a Busy Month of Basketball


Billikens celebrating the A-10 Championship in Brooklyn!
March has been an exciting month for basketball around the Saint Louis University Athletic Training program!  The most exciting of which has been the SLU Men's Basketball Atlantic-10 championship season.   Special congratulations go out to Jonathan Burch ATC who serves as the SLU men's basketball athletic trainer.  We wish the Billikens the best as they begin the NCAA tournament vs New Mexico State in San Jose, CA on Thursday, March 21, 2013. For more information on the tournament go to: Interactive NCAA Bracket

Dan Herrin, Rachel Cocek, Janese Evans, Cat Costello, Dr. Tony Breitbach, Katie Schneebeck, Nick Gastorf and Dr. Tim Howell in the Scottrade Center.
The SLU AT program faculty and students were also busy serving as the medical team for the Missouri Valley Conference Men's Basketball Championship at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and the Women's Basketball Championship at the Family Arena in St. Charles.  Congratulations go to Ben McNair ATC and the Creighton Blue Jays for winning the MVC Men's Basketball tournament.  Kudos also go to Becca Fitzgerald ATC and Stephanie Hamersky ATC and the Wichita State Shockers for winning the women's title.  Best wishes to all as they compete in the NCAA Tournament.

Dr. Tony Breitbach, Lizzy Kienstra, Heather Koch and Jay Maturan at the Family Arena.

March 12, 2013

SLU AT Students Create National AT Month Display Featuring Domains of Athletic Training


Saint Louis University athletic training students in MAT 300, AT Student Development, worked with Dr. Tim Howell to develop posters on the five domains of Athletic Training for National Athletic Training Month.

These posters are designed to educate the public regarding the roles and responsibilities of the athletic trainer and utilized a template previously used with the Missouri Athletic Trainers Association in "AT Day at the Capitol" presentations in Jefferson City.

Click on specific poster to view enlarged version.






March 07, 2013

SLU AT Students Among Billiken Athletes Honored for Academics


A distinctive feature of the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program is that, as a 3+2 Master of Athletic Training program, that students in the program can participate in intercollegiate athletics for the Billikens.  Several of these AT students who participate in Billiken Athletics were honored recently by the Atlantic-10 Conference on the Commissioners Honor Roll and by SLU Athletics on Academic Excellence Night.



Courtesy: Saint Louis Athletics  
Release: 03/06/2013
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - The Atlantic 10 Conference established a new record for number of student-athletes, with 1,637 earning Commissioner's Honor Roll distinction for the Fall 2012 semester. Saint Louis had 96 honorees on the list.

To be listed on the Commissioner's Honor Roll, a student-athlete in an Atlantic 10-sponsored sport must have a 3.5 GPA or better (on a 4.0 scale) during the specified semester. Freshmen are eligible to receive the award.

"Our Honor Roll numbers are impressive and our student-athletes should be commended on their dedication," Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade stated. "The additions of Butler and VCU played a significant role in last semester's increase, but to have our 14 other members increase their total number of honorees by over 100 shows the commitment and the importance of academics in the A-10."

The 1,637 honorees marks the highest number of student-athletes to achieve the distinction since prior to 2007, making it the most during Commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade's tenure. It eclipsed the previous record of 1,369 set last spring semester. It also is the fourth straight semester, the total number of honorees has surpassed 1,300 and topped the previous semester.

SLU AT Students on the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll include:
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK AND FIELD: Jose Mendez
WOMEN'S SOFTBALL: Jessica Buschjost
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK AND FIELD: Hilary Orf


Jose Mendez
Jessica Buschjost
Hilary Orf
     











Courtesy: Saint Louis Athletics  
Release: 02/27/2013

ST. LOUIS - Saint Louis University's department of athletics will celebrate Academic Excellence Night on Wednesday, Feb. 27 during the men's basketball game against Saint Joseph's. Tip off for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

In the fall 2012 semester, 212 Billiken student-athletes earned a 3.0 grade point average or better. Women's cross country and track and field had the most selections, with 27 team members on the list.

SLU AT Students on the A-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll include:
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL:  Erika Cook
MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK AND FIELD: Jose Mendez
WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY & TRACK AND FIELD: Brooklynn Bastain, Hilary Orf & Stephanie Uhrich
WOMEN'S SOFTBALL: Jessica Buschjost



March 05, 2013

SLU AT Students Conduct Skills Workshop for 2nd Year Medical Students


Katie Herington, Rachel Cocek, Nick Gastorf, Dan Herrin, Lizzy Kienstra, Cat Costello, Kelley DeGreeff, Dr. Tony Breitbach, Sarah Reifsteck and Claire Botting

On March 5, 2013, Athletic Training students at Saint Louis University conducted an interprofessional skills workshop for SLU 2nd year medical students in the Allied Health Building on SLU's Medical Center Campus.  There were three stations that featured teams of AT students conducting hand-on practice sessions for the medical students.  This was a great evening of professional development and fellowship for the students.



SLU AT students Nick Gastorf, Lizzy Kienstra and Cat Costello instruct on facemask removal and use of a spine board in a cervical spine injury.



SLU AT students Dan Herrin and Sarah Reifsteck instructed medical students on use of the SCAT2 instrument in the sideline assessment of concussion.



SLU AT students Katie Herington, Kelley DeGreeff, Claire Botting and Rachel Cocek instructed and guided practice in ankle taping.

March 04, 2013

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Rockwood Summit High School



Rockwood Summit High School - Home of the Falcons!
By: Rachel Cocek (SLU MAT Class of 2013) and Cat Costello (SLU MAT Class of 2014)

Rachel Cocek, Haley O'Neal ATC and Cat Costello.

We started our clinical experience with football two-a-days in August. We were assigned to Rockwood Summit High School, a large high school located about 30 minutes west of SLU in Fenton, MO. We were the first students to be placed at Summit and had no idea what to expect from our new preceptor and clinical site. Our preceptor is Haley O’Neal ATC, a certified athletic trainer employed by PRORehab who is a HUGE fan of the University of Kansas, where she received her undergraduate degree.  After graduating from KU, she had a graduate assistant position at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, where she worked with cheerleading and track and field.  

Haley O'Neal ATC and Rachel Cocek at the MSHSAA State Wrestling Meet.
She has taught us so much by both allowing us to observe and apply what we’ve learned in our classes this semester and by telling us countless stories of injuries she has had to deal with in her athletes throughout her career.  She always encouraged us to ask questions and be hands-on so we could learn as much as we can about providing the appropriate medical care to our athletes.


We’ve gotten to work with a variety of different sports, including football, soccer, volleyball, cross country, field hockey, tennis, swimming, softball, wrestling, and basketball.  We got to see what the “after school rush” was really all about when the bell rang at 3:05 and a stampede occurred as every athlete was trying to get in to get taped or evaluated before they were late for practice or the warm-up for a game.   We experienced Friday night football from a completely different perspective, as the ones who kept the football players happy and healthy throughout the week by applying the evaluation and assessment skills learned in class whenever the athletes were injured.  


We got to see how Haley has to make the rounds on her Gator to each team’s practice every day and how difficult it can be to work at such a large school with so many athletes, coaches, and teams.  In working with so many different sports, we were able to improve our taping techniques, develop our evaluation skills, and work on building confidence in creating rehabilitation programs for injured athletes.  We also got to experience what it’s like to work with coaches and parents when their athletes need to take some time off in order to recover fully from an injury to come back better than they were before.


Rockwood Summit is a wonderful site for athletic training students to gain clinical experience and enhance confidence in the skills learned during class as there is such a huge variety of athletes and sports.  Each day was something new and we had no idea who or what would come walking through the Athletic Training room doors next.

This is one of a series of posts by the Saint Louis University Athletic Training students featuring their clinical site and their preceptors. The number, quality and diversity of clinical instruction are major assets for the SLU AT Program.