February 10, 2015

SLU AT Program Honors Academic Excellence at Annual Speakers Series



The Saint Louis Athletic Training Program held its Annual Speakers Series and Recognition Ceremony on Monday, February 9, 2015 in the Wall Auditorium of the Edwin Everest Education Union on the SLU Medical Center Campus,

The evening began with the initiation of the newest members of the SLU Alpha Iota Chapter of Iota Tau Alpha, the National Athletic Training Honor Society.


The students initiated to Iota Tau Alpha are:

New Graduate Members
Christian J. Ahlstrom
Brittany A. Koops
Christopher J. Miller
Eldon R. Reid

New Undergraduate Members
Demeisha A. Crawford
Ryan N. Frantz
Jenna C. Ginsberg
Candie M. Hill
Dustin M. Jamboretz
Amelia R. Meigs
Michael M. Milek
Emily R. Mott
Raquel M. Roberts-Hamilton
Daniel R. Smith


Following the Iota Tau Alpha ceremony, there was a Dedication Ceremony for the Clarence "Bob" Bauman Endowed Scholarship at Saint Louis University.  Bauman Scholarship Co-Chair Kim Tucci recognized Michael Aaron as the first-ever receipient of this scholarship, intended to recognize overall excellence and support SLU AT students in the second professional year in the program.

SLU AT Student Michael Aaron and Kim Tucci.
Keynote speaker Neeru Jayanthi MD then addressed the crowd of over 100 AT students, their families and health professionals in the audience with a presentation titled: "Sports Specialized Training in Young Athletes: Is this Helping or Hurting?" 

Dr. Neeru Jayanthi
Dr. Jayanthi's talk was followed by a lively discussion by a panel of experts on Youth Sports and Injury.  The panelists included Amy Schork ATC, Tyler Wadsworth MD and Richard Colignon PhD.

Dr. Tyler Wadsworth moderated the panel discussion.

Dr. Jayanthi, Amy Schork and Dr. Richard Colignon.
The evening wrapped up a pizza reception sponsored by SLATS, the SLU AT Student Association.

Overall, the festivities provided a great means to recognize SLU AT Students and learn about a very important topic. 

February 04, 2015

SLU AT Students Practice Teamwork and Advocate for the Profession at Interprofessional Team Seminar

Interprofessional Team Seminar (IPTS)
By: Kayla Kelley (SLU MAT Class of 2015)

My athletic training classmates and I recently had the opportunity to participate in an Interprofessional Team Seminar (IPTS). During this seminar, designed for post-baccalaureate students by SLU's Center for Interprofessional Education and Research, we presented the profession of athletic training to a variety of other health professions students in physical therapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), social work (SW), nursing, pharmacy, medicine, and physician assistant (PA). We had the opportunity to explain to other students in the health professions about what athletic trainers do and what kind of professional preparation we receive. We also answered any questions they had regarding our scope of practice. The second part of our involvement in this seminar gave us the opportunity to discuss a real case. This real case was taken from Tommy Mallon's story featured on the video at injuredathletes.org. Each profession talked about how they would handle the situation including any best practice guidelines regarding the care of this injured athlete.


Participating in this seminar was important to us because our profession is often misunderstood. Therefore, it is our responsibility to educate others in order to gain the recognition and respect we deserve as health professionals. Additionally, the main objective of the seminar was to teach us how to effectively communicate with one another as members of a patient-centered health care team. Collaborating together as an efficient team can make all the difference in the quality of care the patient receives. It is our job to ensure the highest level of care through our correspondences with each other and the decisions we make in the best interest of the patient.

In just a few months, we will be certified and practicing on our own. This seminar has prepared us to be active members of the healthcare team. It has also given us a greater appreciation for the other health professions and their respective scopes of practice. Through this experience we have also become more confident in our ability to teach others about the athletic training profession, looking forward to and even encouraging this discussion.

Athletic trainers—we do more than just tape ankles, we save lives.

To learn more about the SLU Center for Interprofessional Education and Research go to: ipe.slu.edu.

February 01, 2015

SLU AT Program Speaker Series Addresses Youth Sports and Injuries

Saint Louis University's Athletic Training program is hosting its annual Speaker Series and Recognition Ceremony on Monday, February 9 in the Wall Auditorium at the Edwin Everest Education Union at 6:30 pm.

The event will proudly include the following:

6:30 pm
Initiation Ceremony for the newest members of the SLU chapter of Iota Tau Alpha, National Athletic Training Honor Society



7:00 pm
Dedication Ceremony for the Bauman Endowed Scholarship in Athletic Training

7:15 pm
Keynote Speaker  - Dr. Neeru Jayanthi 

"Sports Specialized Training in Young Athletes: Is this Helping or Hurting?"



Dr. Jayanthi, is an Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University, where he is also the team physician for the university's athletics and a prominent figure in the field of youth sports. Dr. Jayanthi has had recent appearances on WGN news Sports Radio, WGN-TV News Medical Watch, ABC News, CBS National radio, XM radio, NPR and numerous other media outlets to discuss his research findings.




8:00 pm
Panel discussion about youth sports and injury with local experts
  • Tyler Wadsworth, MD, Medical Director, SLU AT Program (Moderator)
  • Richard Colignon, PhD, Chair, SLU Department of Sociology
  • Neeru Jayanthi, MD, Physician, Loyola University - Chicago
  • Amy Schork, ATC, Athletic Trainer, Advanced Orthopedics and Sports Medicine.

8:30 pm
Social reception sponsored by SLATS, the SLU AT Student Organization.

There is no charge for the Saint Louis University Athletic Training Program Speaker Series and Recognition Ceremony, and the public is welcome to attend. Registration is requested for the event. To register, please click here.


This event provides 1.0 hour of Board of Certification Category A continuing education credit. The objective of this presentation is to better inform providers about the risk of specialization in youth sports. The target audience is Athletic Trainers and other health care providers involved in youth sports. (Level of difficulty: Advanced) Saint Louis University reserves the right to change or cancel this program. Efforts will be made to notify registered participants in either event.