SLU AT Students Find Excellent Preceptors and a Flexible Clinical Site at Fontbonne University

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Fontbonne University

Andrea Strebler (MAT Class of 2016)

I was assigned to Fontbonne University for my Fall 2014 clinical practicum experience.  It has only been two and a half months and I feel as if I’ve learned a years’ worth or more of material. My clinical experience so far has been extremely helpful in the classroom. At Fontbonne I have the ability to connection the material in class and apply the knowledge on the field. Fontbonne has four very passionate Athletic Trainers that I have the opportunity to work with. 

Andrea Lindquist ATC is the Head Athletic Trainer and my main preceptor at Fontbonne University.  She is extremely knowledgeable and is very supportive of me to take the risk of being wrong to be able to learn through experience.  Ann Schmerbach ATC, 2011 alum of SLU’s AT Program, is brilliant at testing my past knowledge and teaching about various rehabs on injuries. Jaci Clauson ATC a Grad Assistant ATC has been tremendous at connecting her recent graduation experience to get me excited for my future success. Brooklyn Dunihoo, ATC pushes me to show what I’ve learned and teach ways for me to better improve those skills.

Being a NCAA Division I soccer athlete at SLU I can really connect with as well as appreciate many of the injuries and particular aspects for Fontbonne’s NCAA Division III soccer teams. I have been working with women’s volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, and cross-country. I have learned a great deal so far and am really looking forward to upcoming men’s and women’s basketball in winter.

Andrea Lindquist ATC, Ann Schmerbauch ATC, Andrea Strebler, Brooklyn Dunihoo ATC, Jaci Clauson ATC

Brittany Koops (MAT Class of 2015)

Beginning my second year of clinical, and my second and final year of SLU I didn’t know what to expect. I was excited and nervous; I was happy and sad, and confused but confident. My emotions were mixed and so were my thoughts about my new clinical assignment at Fontbonne University. I am naturally a shy and awkward person. I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in, or that I would feel overpowered or overshadowed by the people I’d met briefly at the end of the spring semester. Gladly all my fears of me being awkward and quiet were false. The open and outgoing personalties of my preceptors at Fontbonne have helped me feel comfortable and be able to become more and more myself with each day. I feel that I was able to open up quicker, and feel less timid about being me and fitting in and being accepted. I knew from the start that I was welcomed by both my preceptors and the students.

This welcoming feeling and being able to break out of my shell has begun to help, and will continue to help me in my future and throughout the rest of the year. I am more willing to ask questions, speak out, and don’t try to slide by unnoticed. It has helped me gain more confidence in myself as a student, and as a person.

Not only am I welcomed, but my busy schedule is accepted. They work hard to make sure that I am able to still make my hours, even if it means coming in early in the morning before school so I can work one of my two jobs late at night. Balancing school full time, on top of working 40 or more hours a week and clinicals, has been challenging, but my preceptors at Fontbonne have been there as support through personal stress, as well as help with school stress. They are open to explaining and answering my questions, and that has done a great deal to help relieve some pressure of my classes, when I feel like I have nowhere to turn.

Lastly, so far this semester I feel that the exposure to a range of sports has really helped me. Not only do I have more opportunities to practice the skills I’ve learned and potentially see different injuries, but I also get to learn more about the dynamics of athletic training and how they can differ from sport to sport. I get to see the athletes during season, preseason and postseason, which is also a different experience compared to last year, when I only worked with the sports in season.

Not only to I get to work with a variety of sports, but this year I am also fortunate enough to get to work with a PY1 student. Last, year I never had a rotation with a PY2 student, and I am excited to get to experience the dynamics of being able to learn from and teach a fellow student. This past month at Fontbonne has exceeded my expectations, and I can only expect that it will continue to do so.

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.