SLU AT Student Gets an Authentic Experience as an Outreach Athletic Trainer at Athletico

SLU AT Summer Field Experience Spotlight - Fenwick High School and Athletico, Oak Park, IL

By: Nick Kellerhals (SLU MAT Class of 2017)

This summer for my clinical internship class MAT 5900 I had the privilege of working with Tony McCormick ATC and Athletico Physical Therapy. Tony is the head Athletic Trainer for Fenwick High School. Fenwick High School is a selective private college preparatory school located in Oak Park, Illinois, and was founded in 1929 as part of the Province of St. Albert the Great. Tony also does outreach services for Athletico in Oak Park.  

While at Athletico I was able to observe an evaluation done by a physical therapist and was able to compare and discuss our SOAP notes. Observing the eval gave me more insight on how to do a fast but thorough evaluation. The most interesting things I observed were an Athlete who had torn his ACL, LCL, PCL and Meniscus as well as another individual who had Complex Regional Pain Syndrome from her hand up to her shoulder. This summer has allowed me to see what it would be like in a outreach clinic setting as well as a High School. At Fenwick I was able to implement injury prevention and proper hydration techniques with the athletes as well as taping and injury eval. 

I was able to observe Tony and some PT’s at Athletico as well as assisting with the patient rehab. One of the coolest opportunities I was able to observe this summer through working with Tony was seeing a K-Vest screening. K-Vest is a human motion learning system. It is an all-in-one wireless system that instantaneously measures players’ power signatures and 3D data. It also provides one with an extensive library of pre-built training programs and drills customized to the patients categories that need work on. I observed this demonstration at the Athletico in Oak Brook. The K-vest at the Athletico’s golf center performance facility was introduced 4-6 months ago and it is the only Athletico that has it. 

I definitely learned a lot from Tony this summer and am glad I had the opportunity.

Students in the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program have a required field experience in the summer between their two professional years in the program.  This blog post details a student's reflection on their experience.