Athlone Student Connects Classroom and Clinical Learning with Preceptor at Bishop DuBourg HS

International Clinical Exchange - Saint Louis University and Athlone Institute of Technology

By: Patrick Coffey (Athletic Rehabilitation Therapy Student, Athlone Institute of Technology)

During my experience in St. Louis I was on placement at Bishop DuBourg high school. My preceptor there was Nathan Jarman MAT, ATC, from SSM SLU Hospital, and a PY1 student Becca McGrail. At the high school we covered a range of sports like American football, Soccer, Volleyball, Cross country, Cheerleaders, Basketball, Softball and wrestling. A lot of these sports would not be too common in Ireland so it was interesting to see the different sports and to deal with the different injuries that can occur from each sport. 

I am extremely happy to be put on placement with Nate as he creates an enjoyable environment for both ATs and athletes, making it very easy to learn while enjoying my time here. Nate showed me a lot of new techniques for both patient assessment and injury diagnosis of individual athletes which I would be confident practicing with future athletes. Getting the opportunity to work with Becca who is a PY1 student gave me an insight into the way athletic training is thought here in America compared to in Ireland, It gave me the opportunity to ask and answer questions about our different experiences as AT students. 

I found that Dr. Mike Markee’s rehabilitation class along with implementing these newly learned skills with Nate at Bishop DuBourg high school increased my rehabilitation skills immensely which is an area I wanted to improve on coming over here. I also enjoyed the opportunity to visit Busch Stadium, it was very interesting as we got the chance to see a professional team’s athletic training room along with talking to one of their athletic trainers.

In my final week on placement Nate organised for me to spend a morning observing surgery’s this was a fascinating experience and an area I would like to learn more about so to get the opportunity to observe different operations was an incredible opportunity for me.

In the final weeks of our time here in St. Louis we started placement with SLU women’s basketball I feel like it would have been a lot more beneficial if I got some hands on experience here however it was interesting to see the AT facilities which SLU athletics have and to see how different training room are run in comparison to at the high school level.