Woman are taking over our profession...or are they??

Indiana State University (yes, I may be slightly biased to them! GO SYCAMORES!) publishes research presenting data on: Age, Sex, and Setting Factors and Labor Force in Athletic Training.

What does this information show??? Well, in a nut shell....we see tons and tons of females getting into the Athletic Training Profession...however, what we don't talk about is the number getting out! Out of 18,571 AT's 52.1% were male and 47.9% were females. So, initally what would you think?? Well, yes, you would think the woman are catching up to the men...however, here is what we see....

"National employment trends have indicated an increase in female representation in the workforce from 40% in 1975 to 46% in 2005, with a projection that 51% of the workforce will be female by 2014.....Athletic training has incurred similar growth patterns since women first became athletic trainers (ATs) in 1956, with women now representing 48% of the athletic training population. Currently, 97.7% of all National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) institutions employ ATs. However, a closer investigation of the ATs in the college or university, high school, and clinic populations reveals inequity. Less than one-third of NCAA in- stitutions have female head ATs. The populations of men and women appear comparable (22% of women and 23% of men are employed in the secondary school setting, 14% of women and 14% of men are employed in the college or university setting, and 22% of women and 23% of men are employed in the clinical setting." (btw I could absolutely do proper citing here; however, what fun would that be in a blog...I will provide the article information at the end of this segment!)

So, where is the major discrepancy...well, it seems everything is fair in love and war (i.e. woman and men) except for not many woman are head AT"s at a college...is this by choice or by sexism..YOU DECIDE..please leave me comments at the end of this blog!

Next thing about woman...."Female athletic trainers tended to leave the profession around age 28 years." Also, "Among female ATs, 45% stated that they changed job settings after having children. The changes were primarily from the college or university setting and might be based on multiple dy- namics, including irregular hours and flexibility of scheduling; regardless, these patterns mimic national data."

So, what does this suggest??? Well, even though we are increasing the number of female AT's coming in...we still cannot catch up to the male population because we have several females still leaving the profession, but can you blame them??? Don't get me wrong, I am a HUGE advocate for Athletic Training, but sometimes I like to play the devils advocate!

I was once told by a doctor that I work with that you have to be a, "COMPLETE IDIOT to become a doctor...the hours...the years, the dedication...the stress...but at least I know my family is taken care of by the pay check I bring home...even if I'm not there all the time". Well, his phrase kind of rings home...the hours, the dedication, the stress, but the one thing we don't get is the pay. We cannot always say our families are well taken care of. After doing alot of research from salary surveys to my own personal surveys I am completely astonished at what some AT's are being offered. ...and I am not talking about a starter job that you know you will move out of because that is the realm of the job i.e. a "starter position" (even though those in themselves are a shame)...I am talking about good "experience needed" jobs. We are taking jobs that pay us peanuts, leaving some unable to pay off their bills and loans....unable to afford their car payments...or leaving them eating noddles 6 nights a week. WE as athletic trainers have to stand up for our profession. We tell our people to stand up for themselves and fight for their own salaries..and there is no doubt that this is needed...however, our profession needs to stand up for us too. We want so badly to care for our kids, but at what cost? There is no doubt an Athletic Trainer shoud be at every school...but at what cost??? So, that they can barely live a life and not be able to save money to take care of their family or even themselves years down the road. We cannot just think about the now, we MUST think about the future...the future of our profession including the FUTURE of OUR PROFESSIONALS.

So, this blog kind of points out a few things.....percentage of men vs woman in our profession, the fact that woman are leaving the profession ...and the question still remains to know exactly why...well, here is some more food for thought!!!! It's not just the hours....it's not just the stress.....because even doctors manage families with that....what about the pay????



Statistics a "quotes" come from the following research:

Age, Sex, and Setting Factors and Labor Force in Athletic Training
Leamor Kahanov, EdD, LAT, ATC; Lindsey E. Eberman, PhD, ATC
Department of Applied Science and Rehabilitation, Indiana State University, Terre Haute

Are You Prepared?

After watching those who live on the east coast last week scramble to find emergency supplies and create hurricane survival kits before Irene made landfall. It made me wonder, are we really prepared as athletic trainers to execute our emergency actions plans (EAP's) in a timely manor? When is the last time we practiced spine boarding or splinting, or even walked through our EAP's step by step?

If you are like me and live in traditional hurricane territory, you are prepared. You have a Hurricane kit, you have plan of attack if a Hurricane ever comes on land, and you watch the National Hurricane Center for updates almost on a daily basis during hurricane season. So how can we transfer our hurricane preparedness into Emergency preparedness in our role as an athletic trainer?

Providing immediate emergency care is a vital part of an athletic trainers existence, and emergency plans have to be rehearsed. This rehearsal provides team members a chance to maintain and improve their emergency skills at a high level. In addition, all equipment should be checked on a regular basis, but lets be honest when the last time you took out your splints and made sure they where in working order?

Today, I reviewed my EAP's with my Athletic Training Education Program students and at this point I do not believe they would be able to accurately implement it. I plan on using the next couple of days to allow them to become familiar with not only the plan and their role, but the equipment they may be asked to get and/or use.

I hope to never use my EAP's but as long as my team and I have rehearsed and our equipment is in working order I know everything will turn out for the best.

Below are some references for creating and implementing your own emergency action plans.

National Athletic Trainers' Association Position Statement: Emergency Planning in Athletics-http://www.nata.org/sites/default/files/EmergencyPlanningInAthletics.pdf

National Center for Sports Safety -http://www.sportssafety.org/articles/emergency-action-plan/

Center for Catastrophic Sports Injuries, Prevention and Management, College Sports Medicine Foundation- http://www.csmfoundation.org/Center_Catastrophic_Prevention_Management.htm

Why fight the heat?

This past Saturday I got a small taste of what most of you have been going through for the last couple of weeks: high school football in the heat.

Honestly, I got lucky. The school I was covering made a great call and scheduled the scrimmages from 8:30 am to noon. We were even lucky enough for an occasional cloud to block the sun!

Even with good scheduling and a break from some clouds, the actual temperature was still just below 100 degrees. The coaches scheduled plenty of water breaks, constantly reminded the players to get water, and had obviously educated the players on the importance of staying hydrated.

So, there I am, at a school who has taken the recommended precautions to reduce the likelihood of heat illness but I can’t help but think we are still doing it wrong. Physiology tells us that the human body is not designed to function in hot environments, much less function in extreme heat wearing a helmet and full pads. Unfortunately, athletes die every year and remind us of this very fact.

So why are we still doing it?

I get it, we love football; but, from my viewpoint, it seems as though we could make some changes that would protect the athletes (and coaches) from heat illness.

The most obvious: start practice later in the year. Why do we start playing football in August? How about moving the season back a few weeks?

I understand that a champion needs to be crowned before Christmas. This can still be accomplished if we take fewer teams to the playoffs. What happened to only the district champion going to playoffs?

I think we let way too many teams go to the playoffs anyway.

Why not reduce that number and shave a few weeks off the season? A champion could be crowned and we could all avoid the dangerous heat for a few more weeks. Coaches may not want to give up two a days but that would be a small price to pay to say lives.

Brave? or just plain dumb?

“Quality of life” is one of the hottest buzzwords in the profession these days. What can we do to make our job more enjoyable and keep people in the profession? This isn’t rhetorical. Seriously, what is it? What are we looking for? What do athletic trainers need to make us stick with this profession that we so fell in love with that we sacrificed so much at one time?

I have left my current position. I left because I was unhappy. I am this demographic that I don’t know how to handle or how to fix. I was tired of being here for the long hours. Not so much the time I was working hard to get patients better or teaching or providing great care for athletes, but for the time wasted. The time in the middle of the day where I was expected to be in the athletic training room “just in case.” These moments are when I am certain Facebook was made for athletic trainers.

I left because I was uninspired by what was called of me everyday. I left because I know that I am stunted in my professional growth. I left because I want to be challenged and learn something new and make a new mark for athletic trainers outside of the school setting.

I have been told I’m “brave” to make such a leap of faith. Some have praised me for acknowledging these things in myself and doing what it takes to make the changes. I partially think I have lost my mind. Who quits without having a job lined up!!!! Oh, that would be me.

I like to think of it of the seven-year itch. I’m in my eight year with my hubby, and I still like him. So I figure something had to give…

So I ask of you, how do we prevent the seven-year athletic training itch?

Volunteering

The weekend of April 16-17 was the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer event in Houston. A few of the Young Professional Committee member's volunteered their time Saturday and Sunday to help medical crew the route, along with 3 other athletic trainers. The walk was significantly understaffed with medical crew, especially athletic trainers. Volunteering your time to an event like this is very rewarding and I encourage anyone that is interested in participating next year to please contact me via email or reply to the post for more information. We hope to see you next year in Houston on the weekend of April 21-22nd, 2012.

Below are some pictures from this year...

Thank you Loree McCary, Carissa Spraberry, Charessa Lyons, and Adriann Fleming for another great weekend :)

Remember when...

Remember when your grandma and grandpa would tell you how they walked to school 5 miles uphill both ways? Remember when your mom told you not to make that face or else it would freeze that way? Remember when you got to college and people said you would act like a kindergardner? Remember when you thought you knew it all and then 5 years later you realized you knew nothing?
Life experiences take us from one stop to another on our journey of life. Advice is a tool to help you along. Some pieces are worthless like that little allen wrench in the build it yourself furniture. Some pieces are an everyday need like a pair of scissors. We should pass on the good advice to help those who need it and save our opionion when others should find their own truths.
I know I sound old when I say "It was so different when I ______", but it really was. Computers didn't email, cell phones were in bags and no one knew what text messaging was. I want to change with the times, but I also want to remember when. One piece that I read rang so true to me. It is attributed to a speech from Bill Gates where he lays it out for those students about to step into the "real world". Please take what you like and leave what don't, but in the end "remember when".


Rule 1: Life is not fair-get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of university. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. She doesn't have tenure.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping-they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one

·Attributed to a speech by Bill Gates

ATEP Outreach Presentation

I recently had the opportunity to present the SWATA ATEP outreach lecture to the athletic training students at ETBU. I made the short trip to Marshall (only 90 min) on a Friday morning to meet my audience.

David Collins, the program director, met me outside of the athletic center with a big smile and welcoming handshake. After spending a little less then an hour getting to know Mr. Collins, learning how to use the projector and discussing all things ETBU athletic training it was time to present.

The audience consisted of about 20 total students with roughly two-thirds being upperclassmen which forced me to think, “Great, these are exactly the type of students who benefit from the information given in the lecture.”

Almost immediately a few quick questions revealed that many of the upperclassmen were not sure what the next step in their careers would be, so it was looking as though the presentation would prove to be very helpful.

We discussed all of their options (first job, GA positions, or continuing their education) and how to decide what was best for them as individuals. The students asked questions and appeared to be absorbing some useful information. Next, we discussed all the ins and outs of SWATA and NATA young professional committees. The students were intrigued by the existence of the committees and of the services that are provided to them by the committees.

Finally, we wrapped up the presentation by sharing contact information and discussing how to follow up on topics that interested them. I made the trip to ETBU to teach future young professionals how to transition, but actually learned a lot myself about their program and the interests of the next generation of professionals.