Chapter 9: Reflections on Service Learning in Athletic Training Education: Promises and Pitfalls

In admission interviews for our competitive undergraduate athletic training education program, we typically ask students, “Why do you want to become an athletic trainer?” While admissions committees for medical schools may get bored of the typical medical student response about “wanting to help people” or “to provide exceptional healthcare to all,” in athletic training, these would be welcome responses. Rather, the standard response from students revolves around “loving sports” or a description of an incident in which they were injured in sports themselves. In this second scenario, the students were often influenced by the high quality of healthcare they received from an athletic trainer. However, they do not see athletic training as an allied healthcare profession as readily as they connect it to a field where they stay associated with sports and, “oh yeah, help athletes get better so they can play again.” Just as I (Klossner) said in my own pre-professional programmatic interview as an undergraduate, students often think living the dream as an athletic trainer is to make it to the “Bigs” someday by working in professional sports. Little do they realize that the greatest satisfaction most athletic trainers report is the loyalty to and relationships with patients as well as the rewarding feelings of making a difference in someone’s life by attending to the complex and comprehensive needs of the patient. This may go well beyond attending to the physical limitations of the patient. Practicing athletic training means wearing many hats and upholding important values such as advocating for the needs of the patient, working with other healthcare professionals to facilitate positive patient outcomes, and simply showing compassion, empathy, and integrity. Mix all of these with good communication skills and frequently a little bit (or a lot) of humor.