April 26, 2016

Schedule Set for SLU MAT Capstone Day - Friday, April 29, 2016



The Athletic Training Program of Saint Louis University's Doisy College of Health Sciences is hosting its Annual Master of Athletic Training (MAT) Capstone Day on Friday, April 29, 2016 in the Multipurpose Room of the Allied Health Building on the SLU Medical Center Campus.

Students in the SLU MAT Class of 2016 will present their Capstone projects. These projects represent a culminating scholarly work from these students experience in the SLU AT Program.

The presentations will be followed by a Recognition Ceremony for the SLU MAT Class of 2016.

The SLU MAT Capstone is open to any members of the greater Saint Louis University community, including friends and families of the SLU AT Program.

For more information about the SLU AT Capstone Day, call 314-977-8561 or email atep@slu.edu.


April 22, 2016

New SLU AT Students Enjoy Interaction with SLU Alum/Preceptor at Westminster Christian Academy


New AT Student Blog Post - Maddie Bresnahan and Tara Honda (MAT Class of 2018)

The clinical site we have most recently visited was Westminster Christian Academy. The preceptor there is Hillary Orf ATC and the PY1 AT student is Ali Graham. Both of us have been to this site multiple times and really enjoy the atmosphere that WCA has. Through observing the care provided by Hillary and Ali, we have learned a lot through observation.

Some of the many things we have learned there include different taping techniques for ankles and wrists. We have also observed the actions athletic trainers take during different sporting events. We have witnessed preventive care before games and practices through heat and icing as well as post practice issues. One thing that stands out to us about WCA is that it is a combination of middle school and high school, so some athletes come from all age ranges with similar injuries.

With Hillary being a Saint Louis University graduate, she has given us lots of advice, tips and studying strategies to us succeed in this athletic training program. In addition, she is hired by WCA through Athletico. She has given us perspective how working as a certified athletic trainer is different for everyone, since she works at the office during the day and WCA at night. This is one of our favorite clinical sites and we are thankful Hilary and Ali let us observe there for much.

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 20, 2016

SLU AT Student Makes Poster Presentation at Senior Legacy Symposium


On April 20, 2016, Saint Louis University Athletic Training Student Amelia Meigs presented a poster entitled "The Development of Cultural Competence and Professionalism in Athletic Training Students through Advocacy and Service Learning" at the Senior Legacy Symposium in the Wool Ballroom at the Busch Student Center.


The Senior Legacy Symposium provides seniors with a venue for professional presentation preparation and communication as well as a showcase opportunity for student academic achievements to celebrate accomplishments.

The symposium gives seniors an opportunity to reflect their career at SLU and how they will carry that forward into their careers and further studies.  To learn more about the event go to:

SLU AT Program Director Dr. Anthony Breitbach with Amelia Meigs
Amelia's poster detailed her experiences at SLU and described how they help promote Interprofessional Engagement, Professional Advocacy and Cultural Competence.

April 19, 2016

New SLU AT Student Inspired by Person-Centered Preceptor at Affton HS


New AT Student Blog Post -  Emily Mott (SLU MAT Class of 2018)
It’s one thing to learn about Athletic Training in a classroom, but the real learning starts with observation in the field.  Direct observation of different Athletic Training sites has been critical in my understanding of and grasp on the reality of the Athletic Training career.  One site in particular that I have continuously returned to, with good reason, is with preceptor Becky Stigen ATC at Afton High School.  This site in particular has taught me not only clinical concepts of evaluation, treatment and rehabilitation of athletes, but further, about the non-physical interaction with the patient.  

Becky’s care for her patients goes far beyond any physical treatment or care she can provide.  Not only is she clinically skilled, but she is skilled in caring for her athletes even outside of the Athletic Training room.  She has patients that sustain injuries that need treatment beyond her continuing care, but nonetheless she checks up on the student, follows up on their continuing treatment elsewhere and genuinely cares for their well being.  She defines the necessary line between being professional yet supportive of her patients.  

I am confident that my clinical skills will improve over the next two years of my professional phase in the SLU Athletic Training program.  However, after my observation during this final semester of my pre-professional phase, sites like Becky’s have really taught me how to be a skilled, professional, yet supportive Athletic Trainer, who not only cares for the physical injury, but for the patient and the mentality of the injury that comes with it.  It is critical to form bonds with a patient to develop a trusting, caring environment in which they can always return, while also setting professional boundaries.  Becky is a perfect example of this and has set a great example as I continue on in my pursuit in the program.  

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

New SLU AT Student Gains Appreciation for the Work of the High School AT at Parkway West


New AT Student Blog Post - Misri Patel (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

This semester, I had the opportunity to observe Athletic Trainer Matt Berning ATC and a SLU PY2 student Rachel Spika at Parkway West High School. In my time there, I was able to see and understand the day of an athletic trainer in a high school setting. To begin with, it started with meeting the students one-on-one after school, doing a daily checkup or a routine exercise with them. After the checkups, the trainer would go around observing different practices and get an idea of what is going on with each sport that day. Throughout the day he managed to meet with all the athletes, and was involved in helping the coaches and athletes maintain a safe, healthy environment to play in.

This experience allowed me to witness an athletic trainer’s standard day working at a high school. Before this opportunity I had never given much consideration into working at a high school level, nevertheless, after observing at this clinical site I feel like high schools offer a wide variety of sports to work with and a very friendly environment. Shadowing at this high school has been an extremely positive experience, the staff is open and friendly, and the athletic trainer showed much enthusiasm in teaching me various skills practiced on the field.

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 18, 2016

New SLU AT Student Enjoys Variety of Experiences at the University Setting


New AT Student Blog Post - Michael Milek (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

I have been to multiple clinical sites this semester for observation hours. The clinical sites have been a combination of both colleges, including SLU and Harris-Stowe, and high schools including, Affton and Parkway South. Each site has been an amazing experience that has added to the flame of wanting to become a professional Athletic Trainer. However, the experiences that have stuck out to me were the ones when I was observing a college/university.

For my experiences at universities, I was able to observe Kara Cummins-Ludwig ATC and student Collin Peterson during one of women’s basketball game. I was able to watch as the players came into the training room to get their pre-game taping or any other type of pre-game work done. Once the athletes were prepared and the courtside was set up, we sat behind the bench while the game was going on. This was the highlight for me. I had never been courtside at a game and it made me feel like an official athletic trainer. It was a very good feeling. As for Harris-Stowe, I was able to observe their women’s softball team. I was able to talk to the preceptor, Tim Herlihy ATC, and just ask pretty much any question related to Athletic training. The other cool part was the fact that there was also a chiropractor on the scene with us. I had never really seen a chiropractor and an athletic trainer working together. I was able to chat with both the preceptor, Tim, and the chiropractor while the games were going on. It was interesting to see both of them working together and bouncing ideas off each other. The photo attached is of Tim, the preceptor at Harris-Stowe, and myself after the double header.

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 17, 2016

New SLU AT Student Gets a Wide View of AT Through Numerous Clinical Sites


New AT Student Blog Post - Justin Ullom (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

More often than not, I was able to attend Affton High School in order to observe Mada Hauck, whose preceptor is Becky Stigen ATC. This training room is small, and it gets crowded at times, but it showed me the best way to make use of one’s space, no matter how limited. Observing a high school, I saw multiple sports throughout the semester and therefore learned many injuries that are common with their respective sports. I also learned that it is important to be able to communicate to all types of people, whether they are shy or outgoing, in order to best get your information across to them. The sports I observed most were basketball and volleyball. While there were no major injuries that occurred during my time observing, I was able to see many preventative or rehabilitative methods for those who had chronic injuries, or multi-sport athletes who were just coming off of an injury from a previous sport and ended up carrying it over to their new sport. 

I also observed at a Parkway South High School. While at Parkway South, I observed Sarah and her preceptor Mike Tzianos ATC. Mike was a very active athletic trainer, as he moved around and rotated from sport to sport in order to check on people, although we spent most of our time in the wrestling room watching practice. Mike explained that we were spending most of the time in the wrestling room because of all the sports that were practicing that day, wrestling was the one that was most likely going to have some sort of injury compared to others. We did watch a short scrimmage between the junior varsity women’s basketball team and the varsity women’s basketball team. One of the more interesting things that occurred during this observation was when a male basketball player came into the training room with a peeling callus that was about twice the size of a half dollar bill. Mike simply took some toenail clippers and carefully cut off the dead skin in order to expose the new skin to air. This observation taught me to make sure to keep a watchful eye on the most high-risk sport when it comes to being an athletic trainer at a high school. 

Another time I observed Tim Howell EdD, ATC, CSCS at the Webster Groves Ice Rink for the college club hockey championship. There was one instance where a player slipped and crashed into the boards very hard, and Tim was initially waved over to check on him, but it was then concluded that it was nothing to worry about so he did not have to go check on the player at the bench. There was one player who had a finger cut open, and Tim checked to see if he had gotten stitches as instructed. This taught me to always follow up on previous injuries in order to make sure that the athlete is doing everything they are supposed to do in order to help the injury heal.

I also observed Bailey Draheim and Tammy Pastor ATC for SLU athletics for two different sports. The first time I observed, I watched some track and field competitions. Not much happened at the meet, although we did learn how spine board an athlete out of the pit. While spine boards are seemingly becoming more and more unnecessary, it was still a very interesting learning experience, one that was reinforced a couple weeks later in class, as we learned how to spine board on flat ground. The second time I observed these two was for a tennis tournament. At this observation, Tammy talked about many injuries associated with tennis, as well as other overhand sports. She mentioned that many tennis players will have chronic wrist injuries. This site taught me that it is very important to understand the chronic injuries for any sport that I deal with as an athletic trainer since they will most often be the issues that arise in any athletes I might see. 

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 16, 2016

New SLU AT Student Looks Forward to the Future Thanks to the Staff and Students at Fontbonne University


New AT Student Blog Post - Jenna Ginsberg (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

My experience as student in the final semester of undergraduate studies in the AT program and MAT 3000 class has made me very excited to enter the professional phase of the program. My directed observation hours have had a very large hand in this, as I now have a more clear mental image of what life will be like as a PY student gaining clinical experience. I completed a large majority of my observation hours at Fontbonne University with PY 1 student Stephanie Uhrich, PY 2 student Andrew Gomez, and preceptor (SLU Alum) Ann Schmerbauch ATC, and my time spent there allowed me to obtain a great deal of knowledge and insight in to the day-­‐to-­‐day life of an AT.

The three preceptors at Fontbonne were incredibly helpful in answering my questions about the profession of Athletic Training, their role as an AT at Fontbonne University, and how their current experiences compare to previous places of employment. Likewise, they asked me questions about my own ambitions and expectations for my Athletic Training career, which helped me reflect on where my future might take me.

I observed many different sports, and was therefore able to witness a broad array of injuries, evaluations, and treatments. Ultrasound and electric stimulation were very common modalities used before and after practices and competition for multiple teams at Fontbonne, and were used for a variety of reasons, most centered around pain relief. It was cool to watch Stephanie and Andrew interact with the athletes and preceptors so confidently, and by observing them in their evaluation and treatment of the athletes made me excited to be in their position next year.

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 15, 2016

New SLU AT Student Sees the Importance of Communication and Trust at Westminster Christian Academy


New AT Student Blog Post - Matthew Eifert (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

The majority of my Directed Observation hours were spent at Westminster Christian Academy. The clinical site offered a wide spectrum of athletes with varied injuries. WCA’s sprawling facilities are home to athletic skill sets ranging from grades seven to twelve. Hillary Orf, ATC (SLU MAT Class of 2013) zooms around the vast athletic fields encompassing the verdant WCA campus; servicing an array of patients in a similarly green gator. The AT provides tape for injured ankles and ice for bruises and sprains. 

A close bond is revealed with every injury that Hillary scoots off to.  The athlete-athletic trainer relationship is much more than injury prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation. Keeping the best wishes of the athlete within the center of healthcare delivery builds trust in an optimal relationship. The countless interactions I observed between the AT and Westminster athletes exemplified the bond necessary for clinical practice. This trust is vital to the success of any preventative, diagnostic or therapeutic interventions. 
                  
I felt that many of this spring’s observation hours taught me the importance of communication. Athletic Trainers rely partially on the testimony of the athlete to make their diagnosis.  The athlete needs to be cognizant of the importance of providing the most accurate description of an injury. Lack of information can definitely impede the ability for ATs to perform their job. This ties back in with the athlete’s part in trusting the AT to get them back to peak performance efficiently. Without trust, there cannot be effective communication. In the absence of information transfer between patient and practitioner, healing is stagnate. 

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 14, 2016

New SLU AT Student Appreciates Insight of Experienced Students and Preceptors at Washington University


New AT Student Blog Post - Abby Klosterman (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

During my time spent at Washington University, I had the opportunity to observe Jim Anderson BS, ATC along with three of Saint Louis University’s Master’s Program students; Andrea Strebler (pictured), Jack Dunlap and Demeisha Crawford (not pictured).  Jim is not only an incredible mentor, but comes with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the field of Athletic Training. As the head Athletic Trainer of the St. Louis Rams for 27 years he offers an incredible perspective of the field of Sports Medicine, not to mention great stories. 

Washington University Athletic Trainers are kept busy with the caliber and intensity levels of their athletes, which provided me with a great opportunity to observe and ask questions regarding the various techniques and methods of care they provided. I was able to observe some of the therapeutic modalities, immediate injury care and first aid, and a variety of taping procedures. 

Jim, Andrea, Jack and Demeisha all possess a great skill set and were tremendously accommodating to my observing and inquiry of their practice. It was an enlightening experience being able to work with the Athletic Training team at Washington University and is inspiring to me as I move forward in my journey to become an Athletic Trainer. 

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.

April 13, 2016

New SLU AT Students Observe Professionalism in a Busy Setting at Parkway South High School


New AT Student Blog Post - Caitlin Gibson and Bridget Bushong (SLU MAT Class of 2018)

As athletic training students at Saint Louis University we have had the opportunity to observe many different clinical sites. Every site has a unique approach to treatment and rehabilitation which leads to a new experience each time. We enjoy observing different preceptors because it shows how many possible ways there are to care for a patient. These different perspectives will be useful to us in our future careers because it is a reminder that there may be multiple ways to provide treatment. 

Parkway South High School is a great clinical site. The preceptor, Mike Tzianos ATC, is great at explaining procedures and treatments on patients. For example, a patient has pitting edema which we had never seen before. Mike explained to the patient the treatment that he was going to do and also explained why this was the best treatment based on the equipment available at the site. 

Mike also was a great example of how to use effective time management with all the patients that come in to see him after school. He is well organized and efficient with his time. Even when the athletic training room was busy, he still was able to give each patient the time they needed. Mike is an excellent example of how to treat patients and make it out to practices on time.

This is one of a series of blog posts written by students entering the professional phase of the SLU AT Program as a part of MAT 3000 - AT Student Development II.