Experienced Preceptors at Washington University Create Excellent Learning Experiences for SLU AT Students

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Washington University in St. Louis

By:  Christian Ahlstrom and Andria Lampe (MAT Class of 2015), Audrey Block and David O'Loughlin (MAT Class of 2016)

At Washington University in St. Louis, we have the opportunity to experience the athletic training lifestyle of a Division III university. We are able to work with all of their sports programs this fall such as football, men's and women's soccer, cross country, tennis and swimming. Four of us SLU students are working with the football program and one SLU student is with the soccer teams. With football, we have the privilege to learn from four very knowledgeable certified athletic trainers, Rick Larsen, ATC, Jim Anderson, ATC, Jacob Blasingame, ATC and Mary Tarzon, ATC, who among one another have more than 70 years of experience in the field. We also have the opportunity to observe the team's orthopedic physicians and chiropractors while they work with our athletes in the athletic training room throughout the week. At Wash U, there is also a wide variety of therapeutic modalities that we are fortunate enough to utilize including Electric Stimulation, Ultrasound, a hydrocollator and GameReady units, just to name a few.

Andria Lampe and David O'Loughlin

Last week, Christian and Dave traveled to Memphis, Tennessee with the football team for a road game against Rhodes College. That is just one of five road trips we students will be going on. Traveling with the team was a great experience, because it pushed us out of our comfort zone. Without being in our usual athletic training room setting, we had to improvise and make use of what we had in an efficient manner. Also, we were recently asked to create a rehab program for one of the football players. This is just one example of the hands-­on opportunities that we get, and it shows that the athletic training staff has a lot of trust in us. The athletic training staff really allows us to enhance our skills by taking a step back and allowing us to be the first line of help.

Audrey Block and Christian Ahlstrom

Wash U is currently undergoing a massive two­ year renovation to their entire athletic facility which includes the athletic training room. This is great for us students because we get a first-­hand experience on how to design and organize an efficient athletic training room. With an amazing staff of athletic trainers and physicians to learn from, hands­-on experience with modalities, traveling opportunities with teams and a competitive collegiate setting to learn in, Wash U offers us a unique experience and a great learning environment that prepares us for our future careers.

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.