Perception is Reality

I've spoken many times on this blog and elsewhere about the need to brand athletic training.  Being seen as experts in athletic medicine and recognized, every time, as the go-to profession and a requirement when dealing with athletic injuries.

A large part of branding is perception; primarily public perception.  In order to get the recognition we want, we need the public to understand our role.  We have gotten better as a whole about not being foot stompers: demanding people address us "athletic trainer," and respect us for providing health care and not just "coverage" and rather commanding respect and modeling our requested actions.

What I have found, however, is that it only takes one single misstep to lose ground.  One event can alter perception to the point that it erases forward progress and damages an otherwise spotless reputation.

"Perception is reality." And when the perception being distributed to the public are things like these:

Athletic trainers are paid to keep the machine humming. The long-term health of the individual player is not their first concern; the health of the team is. The faster a trainer gets his players back on the field, the more likely he’ll be to keep his job.

The doctors and trainers didn't know McCoy had taken a helmet-to-helmet hit.

The implication that not all athletic trainers are created equal..."professional">high school, etc.

The situation in Cleveland is a difficult one, and I'm sure we've all experienced similar frustration.

Maintaining an united front and combating misconceptions, as the NATA did and continues to do will go a long way to bolster our reputation, but the larger burden falls on us, the clinicians.  We are the ones "in the mission field" on a daily basis and in every encounter with our patient, athletes, parents, etc.  We are all athletic trainers, with a unique skill set and expansive knowledge base.  Take your responsibility to yourself and the profession as a whole seriously.