Early Spring Semester Blog post

So whats new in the lift of practicum? Well baseball season is about to get under way and Ive literally been waiting all year for it. Im the last GA to see his/her team play an actual game. Its been an interesting road to this point but Im glad we finally got here. Between all the different rehabs Ive seen and evaluated to learning how to be a real professional in that setting, I can honestly say I couldnt have asked for a better rotation. It gets arduous at times but I think I have figured out how to deal with adversity and and learn something each time a learning opportunity arises. I understand now how hard the D1 baseball setting can be if your program is really good as well as the pressure that comes along with working in that setting. I have been able to come up with my own opinions on what I want in setting as well. Nothing has really changed in my career goals with wanting to work baseball and eventually would like to be a recognized as BMAC. I understand how difficult that is to achieve but am willing to work for it. However, the salary is not what any AT would ideally want for as hard as we can be worked. I feel that it is your prerogative in life to achieve the highest level that you are capable of achieving and that to me doesnt mean settling for unequal salary for the amount of work you accomplish. Ive been considering in the back of my mind the possibility of one day opening an orthopedic rehab clinic that focuses specifically on athletic and orthopedic injuries. Im not sure what all that would accompany, but I do think that with 3 or 4 good friends who all have specialties in certain joints of the body, you would have fun as well as earn the amount of money deserved for the knowledge base we have accomplished. Ive been gettting more and more responsibility at Davenport and it has shown me two things. 1. BMAC is starting to trust me more while teaching me as much as he can in order to complete tasks when he isnt around. 2. I still need way more experience and confidence in order to achieve any of the career goals that I have set for myself. I wanna have a family and spending time with them will be my main priority when that time arises. I havent figured out how that is going to work but I refuse for it to not work. Family should always come first and to me I will find a way for it to. Ive been all over the place so far so lets continue. Classes are going well. I appreciate that their are less exams and more discussion this semester because I think as students we learn better that way as long as we engage. We have way too much going on to have to worry about passing exams and then we stress, study, and forget what we have learned all semester just to retain information for an exam. I do wish that modalities was more lecture based because the science concepts are more difficult to grasp. We do not have time to watch the lectures online and then discuss a quiz during class time. We as a class would rather hear a lecture during class and then take a quiz outside of class when we have time. That way during the lecture we can ask questions at any specific point when they arise. Thesis is going good. Cat and I work really well as a team and have a lot of fun while collecting data. She has taken the reigns on emailing all the participants while I take care of inputting data as we get it. The system runs smoothly and we are only 16 participants in. We are both pretty excited to see the results for both studies since we worked so diligently on them already. One main negative that I have about the program is the clinic shifts that all GAs do every week. I understand that we can do work in shift, but to us they seem pointless. Let me explain why. I understand that track and football have large teams and have many injuries. However, Ive never seen clinic shifts where athletes can come in and work with another trainer because theirs just isnt there yet. I understand that people have kids and lives and thats completely fair. I want that. But Davenport doesnt have a person on shift to help with our baseball team. With the amount of undergrads in the program now, if they were put on a level where they could be trusted more than they are, the shifts for overworked GAs wouldnt be necessary. When we are in shift in UHALL, if an athlete walks in and their AT is in the office, they will immediately jump up and take care of them. We become pointless except for busy work like laundry, cleaning, inventory, and making sure undergrads arent bored. After a while when you understand what else you could be doing with your time, it gets frustrating that we are sitting taking care of teams that we arent responsible for or doing nothing. Maybe Im way out of line but everyone constantly says that they dont want us to be overworked, yet they overwork us. I think if the undergrads could be used more like the capacity we were used in undergrad, the clinic would run well and GAs would have a little more freedom within the program. I think thats about it for this one. Im not one to complain too much so maybe I went a little far this time, however its always good to want to improve yourself and the environment you are working/living in.

Hardest but best day of baseball yet

So the day started out odd compared to all others days. I shouldve known that something was off but it just didnt click. It began by me forgetting to wear khakis or bringing them to class which isnt like me at all to forget anything, let alone pants. So i was a few minutes late getting to rehabs. No big deal. Nothing hurt. As soon as i walked in, my normal guys were in the ATR getting ready, jumped right into rehabs and nothing was different. Everything just felt more tense than normal and people were snapping at little things. I held it together, still happy and everything going well. Kid comes in and asks me to look at his armpit. I begin to look at it but was told to let him alone and do it later to get the rehab kids done. Completely fair, gotta get those kids to practice. Kid comes back in and within 5 mins of evaluation, we determine he has a medical emergency. I was immediately left to handle all pre practice, practice, lift, flu shots, conditioning and post practice for myself. I was pretty excited and nervous at the same time. It was the first time i was allowed to have to whole team to myself and got to somewhat make the decisions. I was confident, did everything the way it needed to be done and was out in a timely fashion after lift. I think i was able to gain more confidence from my mentor from the ability i showed to take care of a hectic day myself without needing to reach out for help or showing any sense of nerves. Professionalism was a key part in me doing my job the right way and i think i earned the right to do it any time it needs done with confidence.

TRB Experience

I have recently been placed in the role of training room boss for the past two weeks and have one week to go after this. In our program, this is done to give us a chance to be in a leadership role and to supervise undergraduate students in the training room. We are in charge of making sure everything is kept up with, cleaning is done every night, and making sure the training room is shut down correctly each and every night. Alot of people in the past have used the term training room bitch for the trb letters instead because it seems that we are just supposed to clean and do busy work for 3 weeks and then we can move on and continue with our sport assignments. I think there is a level of professionalism that the staff trainers are looking for in us. They want to see if we will take whatever they give us and see how we take constructive criticism. Even though we are called training room boss, we still answer to every staff trainer and must do the little things that are asked of us each and every day. I believe that it truly is how we make it. Even though we dont get as much freedom as they say is afforded, if you show that you are willing to work hard listen to all the things that the staff trainers want to say, it can be a good experience. I believe that some of the staff trainers did not trust me before my trb started because they had not seen the way that i handle myself. I think after the last 2 weeks, they have begun to trust me and respect me more as a colleague than just another student and Ive learned alot from them as well.

Let Me Rant About my Experience

So here we go...... I like BMac, the baseball players, coaches, everyone but there are some pretty frustrating things that continue to happen to me. I went thru four years of undergrad to come in to grad school certified and ready to go only be constantly told that im doing little things wrong. I understand that things are done differently here, but there is also more than one right way to do something and definitely a wrong way but when you do it one of the right ways and somehow its still wrong, its incredibly frustrating. For instance, being told how to spray tables or wrap on ice is just horrible. I cant always have someone look over my shoulder and worrying about if im doing little things correctly. I cant grow in my practice that way. I understand that my eval skills, rehab skills, and med skills can always continue to grow and i want help on those things but small things that wont change outcomes should be done my way. I think things will continue to get better but i just hope that eventually i wont feel that im always being scrutinized