SLU AT Student Appreciates How Classroom Learning Integrates with Clinical Experience at Parkway West HS

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Parkway West High School

By: Cody Hutson (SLU MAT Class of 2019)

During my time at Parkway West High School I have learned greatly about how to present one’s self as well as apply skills that we as students have learned in class. It is important to have confidence as an athletic trainer because while in the high school setting, everything we say will be taken seriously and a building of trust with the athletes is crucial to the healing process.

There are also opportunities to be less serious and can joke around with those around us, but we need to maintain a degree of respect and professionalism. Just because we are dealing with energetic high school athletes does not mean that we can forget who and what we represent and lose sight on the responsibilities given to us while at work.

It is strangely fun being able to go back to the same site every day but returning with a new technique or piece of knowledge that I could wield to be more useful to the athletic trainer that I am studying under. Having the opportunity to use something I was able to learn that day leaves a bigger impression and makes the information easier for me to remember than simply just in the classroom setting.

Being able to gain confidence on a nearly daily basis is a good feeling and I appreciate everything my preceptor Matthew Berning, ATC, the Parkway West staff, and the student athletes have done for me.

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.