AT Student and Military Veteran Finds a Home at SLU with his Preceptor at St. John Vianney HS

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - St. John Vianney High School
By: Brian Leach (MAT Class of 2019)

The last year in the military is an exciting time for most services members. I was so excited to start down a new path, and my mind was flooded with all the possibilities. I was actually planning on returning to University of Missouri Kansas City where I had just been accepted. But after remembering a conversation between my sister and I about Saint Louis University when I was 11 years old, I realized that I needed to apply. I wanted to go to school for Anthropology at first, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Athletic Training Program a few lines down on the list. After a little thought, I decided that Athletic Training was the major for me, and so I applied and got in.

Now here I am four years later doing my clinicals at Saint John Vianney, a school my father used to brag about but had never attended. I am currently under the guidance of Tim Trupiano, ATC head Athletic Trainer at Vianney. I honestly cannot think of a better place to begin my clinical experience. Tim Trupiano reminds me a lot of one of my best friends from the military. Easy going guy that puts everything he can into being great at his job. I couldn’t be more grateful. I am especially thankful to begin my clinical experience at a site without modalities. I think that this is helpful for the sake of keeping things simple. Here I can learn to appreciate a more hands on, bare bones approach to treatment rather than getting lost in all the options.

I feel that I am building a solid foundation as I move forward into my future of becoming a good Athletic Trainer.

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.