By: Dave O’Loughlin (MAT Class of 2016) with Danny Smith, Bailey Draheim and Collin Peterson (MAT Class of 2017)
My time has been extensive at SLU, and I am thankful for it. Sometimes it gets frustrating always being busy while some of my classmates are free, but I view this as added time to learn and get experience. Through several hours at SLU, I have learned a great amount of material, gained a lot of confidence in decision making and clinician-patient communication, and learned to think outside the box and approach problems from different angles.
Just recently, we added three students in their first professional year – Danny Smith, Bailey Draheim and Collin Peterson. This has been a very positive experience for all of us, being that I now have the opportunity to pass on what I have learned, and have the capacity to lead other students following in my direction. For the PY1’s, they were “thrown into the fire” right away and forced to adapt on the fly and learn and work in a fast-paced environment. I think this aspect has helped them a lot in their clinical growth, as it directly correlates to the quick decision making and thinking on your feet required to be a good athletic trainer.
For my own sake, I have been learning a good deal about the business side of athletic training, i.e. billing, doctor referrals, hospital visits, scheduling, administration, etc. The PY1’s are getting a crash course of techniques to implement into the musculoskeletal assessments and rehabilitation.
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.
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