October 27, 2008

Football Field Trip

St. Louis Rams Head Athletic Trainer Jim Anderson and his staff rolled out the red carpet for our students today at Rams Park. Not only did our students get an extensive tour of their facilities, but the Athletic Training Staff gave our students a good idea of what NFL Athletic Trainers do every week and the kind of equipment and supplies they use. It is great to have colleagues such as Jim and his staff in our community.

The lobby/entrance at Rams Park.
In the Rams locker room.
In the practice facility.
Its huge!

October 19, 2008

ESPN Outside the Lines Video Regarding Athletic Trainers

ESPN Outside the Lines Video

For 16-year-old Jaquan Waller, his passion for football ended in tragedy last month. After just two carries in a high school football game, the junior running back from Greenville, North Carolina collapsed on the sideline and was declared brain dead the following morning. This after being cleared to play following a head injury in practice two days prior. Waller died from complications of second impact syndrome (SIS), when a second concussion occurs before the first one has completely healed. Sunday on Outside the Lines, David Amber examines the need for Certified Athletic Trainers to protect high school football players.

October 17, 2008

SLU Hydrotherapy pool featured on Grimm website


The state of the art hydrotherapy area in SLU's Chaifetz Arena is featured on the Grimm Scientific website.

October 15, 2008

Post-Dispatch appearance


Tony Breitbach was featured in the Saint Louis Post-Dispatch and its website STLtoday.com.

Got hurt? Teaching athletes when to get out of the game
By

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, Oct. 15 2008
The "no pain, no gain" mindset for the athletes who make it into the big show isn't a healthy mantra for prep athletes or weekend warriors. Olympians and professional athletes take a calculated risk, pushing themselves to the limit — and beyond — for the glory and the gold.

"The biggest mistake people make is (to compare) what they do to an Olympic athlete or a professional football player," says Tony Breitbach, director of athletic training at St. Louis University. "For an NFL player, the difference in playing hurt could be an extra million dollars, so that's a risk he takes."

Athletes — from young people who fantasize about themselves as their favorite athletes, to older people trying to recapture their high school or college glory days — often overdo it, Breitbach says.

When professionals get hurt, they have coaches, (athletic) trainers, doctors, physical therapists and their own knowledge of their bodies' strengths and weaknesses to help them determine whether they can play hurt or it's time to go on the disabled list. Athletes struggle through an injury knowing they're going to have months to recuperate, Breitbach said. They tend to know what their bodies can and can't do and how to compensate for injuries. Professionals can turn up their focus to compensate for an injury, something that separates them from weekend warriors.

SCHOOLS IMPROVING
Breitbach says he's glad to see that more schools have athletic trainers on the sidelines, watching for signs of injury. "We look at the athletic trainer as the athlete's advocate, someone trained to know (the extent) of an injury," Breitbach said. "Only a person with a medical background should say whether a child can play after an injury."
Even on high school sidelines, playing hurt can be a calculated risk. If an injury happens early in the season, sitting out a game or two may prevent problems later in the season. However, an athlete may play on a lesser injury in a championship game because he has months to recuperate. Still, says Breitbach, younger players need to gain a more realistic attitude about injuries, he said. As the fortunes of Olympians in all sports clearly showed in Beijing, "setbacks happen — at all stages of life," Breitbach said.

OLDER ATHLETES

For older players who think they can play a pickup game with a bunch of 20-somethings, "The key is how much money could you stand to lose," Breitbach said. "If you work in an office and you (break an ankle), that's not going to be a big problem. But if you work construction and you break an ankle, you can't work."

harry.jackson@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8345

October 07, 2008

Welcome to the team!



We would like to welcome Jason Bennett MPT, ATC as an adjunct faculty member. He is teaching at the laboratory sessions in MAT 524 Musculoskeletal Assessment and Management I this fall and MAT 525 Musculoskeletal Assessment and Management II this spring.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Clarke College in Dubuque, Iowa, Jason has significant and varied experiences as both an athletic trainer and a physical therapist. He continues to be active in athletic training in the area and in physical therapy at ProRehab's Florissant clinic.

October 03, 2008

Program Advisory Board has first meeting



The first meeting of SLU's Athletic Training Education Program Advisory Board took place on September 24, 2008. The purpose of the board is to provide external feedback to the program with regard to mission, objectives, curriculum and clinical education.

The members of the Advisory Board are:
Dr. Tricia Austin, Saint Louis University Program in Physical Therapy
Jonathan Burch, Saint Louis University Athletics
Randy Craig, ProRehab Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine
Julie Davitz, Rehab One Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine
Dr. Lyndon Gross, The Orthopedic Center of St. Louis
Dr. Scott Kaar, Saint Louis University Orthopedics
Rick Larsen, Washington University Athletics
Aaron McBride, Pioneer Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine
Dr. Paul Nativi, Saint Louis University Team Dentist
Laura O’Connor, Heritage Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine
Fred Shinn, Monroe County Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine
Dr. Tyler Wadsworth, SLU Primary Care Physician

Also attending were the following representatives from the Doisy College of Health Sciences:
Dr. Charlotte Royeen, Dean
Dr. Mark Reinking, Department Chair
Dr. Mike Cannon, ATEP Medical Director
Dr. Tony Breitbach, ATEP Director
Darcy Downey, ATEP Clinical Coordinator
Brittney Diener, ATEP Administrative Assistant

October 02, 2008

Eating Saint Louis Event


The Doisy College of Health Sciences has a great event coming up on October 18th to launch the "Eating St. Louis" book.