March 29, 2021

SLU AT Student Adapts Through Unique Winter and Spring Seasons at DeSmet Jesuit HS


SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - DeSmet Jesuit High School
By: Joey Wenzl (MAT Class of 2021) 

This semester has not been as full of surprises as last semester was when it comes to whether or not games will be played. All of the games that we had on the schedule were  played. There weren’t any major COVID scares for us either during the winter sports season.  The only issue we had was when one of our basketball players got exposed during a playoff game. He ended up testing positive and had to miss our next games, but the team was still able  to play and played well without him in. Spring sports are starting up now so we will wait and  see what happens with that, but since those are mainly outside, I don’t expect much of a  problem with any of them. The only issue I can see running into would be is that a couple of the athletes get lazy and don’t take the necessary precautions that they need to and end up exposing the team that way. 


Injury-wise everybody has been pretty healthy thus far. Recently, there has been an  influx with the beginning of spring sports and the people not being conditioned enough when  starting out, but nothing serious. These are easy to evaluate and form a diagnosis on which is  good for me. Everyone that I do is a confidence booster and makes me ready for another one.  These evaluations are the one thing I feel like I was still lacking in when the semester started out and not having any injuries during the winter sports, while good for the teams, did not help  me to progress at all. However, with all of these simple injuries, I feel like I am getting to a point where I am confident in myself and my abilities as I start to look for a job and do this for real.  


Since there wasn’t that much happening in the winter season, and spring sports just now getting underway, there was plenty of downtime while I was at my clinical. This time was not wasted though, instead it was used to study and ask questions since the BOC is fast approaching. I have used this time to sure up the things I didn’t quite understand that well. My preceptor from Mercy Sports Medicine SLU alum Dan Herrin MAT, ATC has been a huge help in this process in giving me the resources and knowledge to help me  succeed. When I have questions for him he gives me an answer that makes sense and doesn’t overexplain a concept to the point where I have no idea what he’s talking about, while still  explaining it enough to help me fully understand it. 

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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