SLU AT Students Experience the Importance of Communication in Health Care at Washington University

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Washington University

By: Sydney Nash (MAT Class of 2022), Muharem Komic and Eldwin Neritani (MAT Class of 2023)

During this clinical experience at Washington University with preceptors Chris Schultheiss ATC, Amanda Luskey ATC and Jackee Hill ATC, we have already learned a lot. We have learned about how important the dynamic between athletic trainers in a collegiate setting like Wash U really is. Being able to properly communicate with and interact with your coworkers is a necessity to be able to establish any sort of proper dynamic and communication with the athletes. If none of the athletic trainers are on the same page, that makes giving proper healthcare to the athletes much more difficult than it needs to be.

The transition of care is also very important with there being a new hire and them being put in charge of a team that a previous athletic trainer oversaw. Seeing the transition of care was a learning experience because the new hire must build up trust with the athletes that the previous athletic trainer already had. Another characteristic picked up while at Wash U is trust. It is a very important aspect of the receival of care with an athlete. They tend to be more open about their healing process and how they are doing and be more honest with you. Overall, it has been a very educational experience and being exposed to a variety of modalities old and new to me was very intriguing. We have also experienced assisting in rehabilitation programs for injuries and just learning and picking up on all aspects of athletic training and adapting to it with what we already know.

Wash U provides many experiences in not only the medical side of Athletic Training but the administrative side as well. During my experience here we have been immersed into the documentation side of athletic training with not only learning how to use the record system but also learning techniques to keep track of treatments and best way to do so. We have gained so many new methods for recording treatment as well as injury updates. Wash U provides experiences in all aspects of Athletic Training and is preparing us to become adept Athletic Trainers.

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.