Athletic Trainers: Providing Healthcare Everywhere

March is National Athletic Training Month. It is an opportunity to explain how athletic trainers are health care professionals that prevent, diagnose, treat, and rehabilitate injuries in a wide variety of industries. Sano Orthopedics employs certified athletic trainers in our clinic, utilizing the full scope of their training and capabilities.  Aaron Patterson, certified Athletic Trainer at Sano Orthopedics, helps explain the potential and benefit of using ATs in healthcare. 

Athletic Training Profession

When people hear “athletic trainer” they either think of a personal trainer/someone who specializes in exercise and fitness. Alternatively, they think of athletic trainers as the people on the sidelines at sports games with band-aids and water bottles. The athletic training profession expands beyond that. Athletic trainers are trained in the following areas: Injury and Illness Prevention and Wellness Promotion, Examination, Assessment and Diagnosis of Injuries and Illness, Immediate and Emergency Care, Therapeutic Intervention, Healthcare Administration, and Professional Responsibility. Because of the wide array of skill sets athletic trainers possess, they can be a central and integral part of any athlete’s or physically active individual’s care. This makes them a great fit for orthopedics.

Proactive Care

Injury and illness prevention and wellness promotion are lacking within general Western medicine. The focus of healthcare is typically reactive instead of proactive. Sano was founded to transform the delivery of musculoskeletal care, and athletic trainers play a critical role in this transformation. Athletic trainers can help any physically active individuals, while being under the guidance of an overseeing physician, with multiple aspects of their health and wellness such as exercise, nutrition, mental health, and sleep. These factors will not always prevent injury or illness, but they can help individuals become more resilient to injury and illness. Athletes strive to be at the top of their game, and they do this by optimizing their exercise, nutrition, mental health, and sleep. The general population can benefit from the same type of care. Athletic trainers are well-equipped to help physically active individuals build resiliency to injury as well as promote overall wellness.