SLU AT Program Welcomes New Adjunct Faculty Members

The Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program is proud to welcome two new adjunct faculty members: Liz Earhart, MS, RDN, LD, HFS and Nathan F. Jarman MAT, ATC, LAT, CSCS, CES/PES; as instructors in the Spring of 2015.

Liz Earhart

Liz Earhart, is teaching MAT 516: Bioenergetics of Athletic Performance in the professional phase of the SLU AT Program. She is a Registered Dietitian, having earned a Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics degree with an emphasis in Nutrition and Physical Performance from the SLU Doisy College of Health Sciences.  Prior to attending SLU, she received a Bachelor of Science in Education and Human Sciences, with a major in Nutritional Science and Dietetics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  She currently is a consulting Dietitian with the Sports Medicine and Training Center; and V-Fit Gym and Personal Training in St. Louis.  She was a Graduate Assistant in the SLU Department of Nutrition and Dietetics earned many academic honors as an undergraduate and graduate student.

Nathan Jarman

Nathan Jarman is teaching MAT 616: Enhancing Athletic Performance in the professional phase of the SLU AT Program.  He is a Certified Athletic Trainer, with a Master of Athletic Training degree from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTHSC) in Lubbock, Texas; and now is a Doctor of Philosophy candidate at the TTTHSC. Prior to that, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg majoring in Exercise Science with an emphasis in Athletic Training.  Nathan is also a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from the National Strength and Conditioning Association; and a Corrective Exercise Specialist and Performance Enhancement Specialist from the National Academy of Sports Medicine.

Such qualified faculty help provide an outstanding experience for Athletic Training Students at Saint Louis University.

SLU AT Student Gets Great Experiences in Familiar Places

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Bishop DuBourg High School and St. Mary's High School

By: Ryan Lilly (MAT Class of 2016)

This semester I had the opportunity to return to and serve my alma mater, St. Mary’s High School, and their rival school, Bishop Dubourg High School, as an athletic training student. These are two small private high schools in Saint Louis with less than 900 combined students. St. Mary’s is an all-boys high school and Dubourg is a co-ed high school. The students at each school are very involved in athletics and often play more than one sport. Also because of the small sizes of the schools students will play multiple positions in some sports such as football. 

My preceptor, Bridget Quirk MAT, ATC is the Athletic Trainer to both of these schools as part of SLU’s Outreach Program. As you could imagine, working at two schools provides quite the workload and has kept us busy. Because of the small sizes of the schools you learn faces and names quickly and easily form relationships with the students as well as the coaches. This makes helping the athletes easier because you know who to look for and what each individual needs. It also makes the communication between players, coaches and the athletic trainer a little easier which allows everyone to know what is going on. This has been very important when a star or vital athlete has an injury.

Tyler Wood ATC, Bridget Quirk ATC, Ryan Lilly and Scott Kaar MD on the sidelines at the DuBourg-St. Mary's football game.

Being at two school and working with double the sports teams you get to witness a lot of different injuries and also a lot of the same injuries. In season right now is football, boys soccer, girls volleyball and softball, and cross country. So far this season we’ve dealt a medial meniscus tear, an ankle dislocation, an ACL tear, an AC joint sprain and several concussions, ankle sprains, and shoulder dislocations, as well as many other things. Most of our time is spent in the athletic training room working with athletes to get them back on the field. We are almost always busy up until the point where we have to leave to go to a sporting event and sometimes there’s so many athletes in the room you can barely move. During the breaks in the all the madness Bridget takes to time teach and explain everything she doing and why she is doing it. I have learned a lot form her. The semester isn’t over yet and while I hope no one else gets injured, I feel there is still a lot to be learned. 

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.