SLU AT Students Appreciate the Community's Contribution to their Clinical Growth at Washington University

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Washington University in St. Louis Athletics
By: Allison Stefan and Mitchell Buerck (SLU MAT Class of 2020)

This spring semester at Washington University, with basketball season and winter sports coming to an end and spring sports starting up, the athletic training room has kept us very busy. Our preceptors, Grant Rohrig MAT, ATC, Jim Anderson BS, ATC, and Mary Collins MAT, ATC, have given us way more responsibility in the athletic training room, as well as, some autonomy to make decisions regarding the care of the athletes.

Something we both have enjoyed this semester is helping the same athletes through-out their rehabilitation programs. Both of us have our own athletes that we see daily and have progressed toward the goal of returning the athlete to play. We have definitely seen major improvements in our rehabilitation skills and coming up with programs that coincide with which stage of the healing process the athlete is in. In addition, we have managed some pretty interesting injuries this semester, including an athlete fracturing three metacarpal bones from a direct blow of a thigh, a broken nose, and another torn ACL.

This semester has been very rewarding for the both of us because the athletes have seen us every day and now feel very comfortable coming to us for things. We have made a deeper connection with athletes from multiple teams and the trust they have in us is developing more and more each week.

We also have established a wholesome relationship with many of the coaches at WashU. With the tragedy of the passing of longtime WashU Head Athletic Trainer Rick Larsen ATC, the athletic department has really come together as a community. They have include us in the support and we both feel very appreciated at WashU. We are looking forward to getting back outside this spring and continuing helping the athletes through their injuries.

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.