SLU AT Student Sees the Importance of Persistence Through Pandemic-Impacted Clinical Experience at Rockwood Summit HS

SLU AT Clinical Site Spotlight - Rockwood Summit High School

By: Maddie Cavanaugh (MAT Class of 2022)

As the spring semester moves into full swing and spring sports pick up at high schools, the energy within the athletic training room is nothing short of exciting.  The athletes that are coming in for their sports haven’t been on the field with this group of people since the spring of 2019 and both athletes and coaches are thrilled.  For my spring 2021 clinical experience, I am placed at Rockwood Summit High School with Mercy Sports Medicine Athletic Trainer Tony Mosello MAT, ATC, LAT.  This semester, I have felt so much more confident in my abilities as an athletic training student when working with the athletes.  Tony has provided such a welcoming environment that has allowed me to grow in my clinical skills over the past year.  I am eager to take these skills to my summer field experience. 

As students start to become annoyed with persistent COVID-19 protocols, now would be the worst time to ease up on things.  As the vaccines are becoming more readily available to the masses, everyone is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and wanting to relax protocols that have been in place for the past year.  The athletes that we are seeing now haven’t been able to play these sports for almost two years now, and the last thing I want to see for them is a season being put on hold or shut down.  In a time where we can finally see hope at some sort of normalcy, now is the time to work through the protocols and come out of the spring season with eyes on a more hopeful summer and fall of sports.

One major thing that I’ve learned while at Summit is that persistence is key.  As teams kept getting shut down due to COVID-19 protocols during the winter season, it felt like winter sports were never going to end.  Our athletes persisted and came back stronger after their brief shut downs.  Our coaching staff persisted and coached the athletes online to make sure they stayed conditioned.  I stayed persistent by continually practicing my clinical evaluation skills and ensuring I stayed on top of new materials and cases.  I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at Summit and I can’t wait for the spring sports season to get into full swing.

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.