PBATS Conference

As promised...  I'm going to talk about the PBATS Conference that I went to.  PBATS stands for Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers' Society.  They, along with the NATA, hosted the conference.  The title of the conference was "Injury Prevention and Treatment Techniques" and it was not just for professional baseball ATCs.  All athletic trainers were there, from high school to pro, and we all learned so much about treatments for different baseball specific injuries.  Since this is a blog about females in the profession, I will address that first.  The ratio of men to women was basically a lot to a little.  I think out of the 200 people that were at the conference, about 20 of them were females.  It was sad to see such little representation, but I can uncerstand why.  The majority of ATCs at the conference were pro, and the female population is underrepresented at the professional level.  But, as I said, any level ATC can go to that conference, so maybe the word will get out and there will be more females to network with the pros.

So back to the actual conference...  The whole first half of day 1 was about Tommy John's surgery, which kind of sounds boring, right?  But it wasn't.  There were a lot of people there talking about new ways to do the surgery and also new ways to rehab it.  Things are always changing for this injury.  We learned about how the current throwing program is probably not the best way to do the treatment.  We should do gradual progressions with breaks in between instead of just going through the whole program in 12 months straight.  It SHOULD take about 14 months to rehab anyway, so whoever thought that 12 months was a good time frame seems to be misled.  There was another talk about how SLAP tears can be classified as good or bad...  That talk was awesome.  He talked about how there is actually a "functional" SLAP tear that your body accomodates sometimes and that they don't necessarily need surgery.  What?!  No labrum surgery for baseball players with a SLAP?  No way!  But the talk made sense.  It compared other injuries or anomolies in the body that are "functional" that don't need correction and said if the labrum tear doesn't cause pain, maybe it is supposed to be there.  That it doesn't need anything besides rehab to make it stronger and more stable.  What?!  That's crazy! We talked about PRP and how there's no scientific evidence to prove that it works.  Same with Kinesiotape.  Foot and ankle injuries, wrist and hand injuries, hip and groin injuries were all covered.  We got to go to Dodgers Stadium for lunch on day 2 and got a tour.  I would say I liked the tour a lot, especially because we had different breakout seession in different parts of the stadium like the clubhouse and the cage.  But we didn't get to see the ATR so I was a bit disappointed on that aspect.  We met Orel Hershiser and he also gave us a little background of himself and had answered a lot of questions.  He explained the way he figured out how he was supposed to pitch and why that worked better than how he was taught.  Overall, the conference was awesome.  Below is the link to get some of the Powerpoints that were presented during the conference.

A few improvements to the conference I would have is to make it more engaging...  I felt like my friends and I were falling asleep through some of the presentations.  I also feel like it should be maybe 4 days for a shorter amount of time each day instead of 3 days and have so much to talk about in day 2.  But other than those 2 things...  I think we had a great time and there's a lot to learn.  Like I said... it's not just for pro ATCs.  High school athletic trainers were there too! It's a great learning experience for everyone.  Check out the link below to look at some of the presentations from the conference!  And if you have any questions about any aspect of the conference, feel free to ask!

http://www.baseballmedicineconference.com/Agenda/

Sorry I've been missing!!

Hey everyone. I know I haven't posted in a while. I've been pretty busy lately. I started my off season job, and it's been great! I've also been in LA for the last few days. There is an NATA and PBATS conferece here. I can't wait to tell you guys all about it! Until then... I read a story a few weeks ago about the first athletic trainer in the Bahamas. And guess what? It's a female! Her name is Sashe Ferguson. This is a huge step for the athletics department. The college it's going to university status and will bee trying to affiliate with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics and having an athletic trainer will play a big role in the transition. Ferguson knows the Bahamas well, too. She represented the Bahamas while on many national teams. She knows the risks of sports without an ATC. She is very excited to start this role. Her story is a good one. Check it out with the link below. My next post will be about the conference!

http://www.thenassauguardian.com/sports/60227-ferguson-becomes-first-athletic-trainer-at-cob

New Jobs - How I Kill the Nerves

Everyone has to start a new job every now and then. Tomorrow, i will be starting a new position for the baseball off season. From April to October, I am an athletic trainer for a professional baseball team. From November to April, I will be working as a wellness coach for a physical therapy office. I didn't think I could have been more nervous to start a job as I was for the baseball team. It was something I have never done before. There were going to be 30 professioanl athletes working for the team, and they were all under my care. I was the one who needed to get them healthy very quickly so they could get back to doing their job. It was the most terrifying thing I have ever done. Until now... I start working as a wellness coach tomorrow. I've never done something like this before, and I couldn't be more nervous. I don't really know what to expect. Thinking back, though, I guess I was always nervous to start new jobs. From child care to servifng at a restaurant to my very first athletic training job at a high school, it was always so nerve wrecking. Going into work tomorrow won't be any different. I'm a ball of nerves right now! But here are the rules I try to follow to keep me a little more calm:

1. Prepare yourself. Don't go into the job blind. Research about the company you're going to be working for. Research the position you will be working in. The more you know, the more impressed your boss will be and the more comfortable you will be in the position.

2. Get enough sleep! I cannot stress this enough. You do not want to be groggy the first day of your new job. This will make your boss think you are not serious about the job. Make sure you go to bed early so you can get the adequate amount of sleep. I know I don't sleep well normally, so when I'm nervous, I know I have to get to bed a bit earlier.

3. Stay confident! You were hired into this position for a reason! You clearly impressed in the interview, so keep that confidence going! You went to a great school for this and now it's time to show what you've learned. You got this.

4. Communicate with your supervisor. Use them as a tool to help you grow. I know with I got the job I have now my supervisor is always there for me. I was fortunate enough to have two people I made relationships with when I started, even though one of them no longer works for the company. I know if I needed her, I could always call. The other person is just as great. He always encourages me and tells me how great I am doing. He tells me there is never a dumb question, even though I feel like I'm constantly asking dumb questions. When you get a good relationship with your supervisor, you know that they are not there to watch you fail. They are there,to help you and keep you going.

5. Make connections with other people in your field. Network like crazy. Go to conferences. Make new friends. The more people you know before you start your job, the easier it is to make those connections after you've been inthe career. I was i, college wondering what I wanted to be when I grew up, and i thought about my athletic trainer when I was an athlete in high school. When I figured out I wanted to be an ATC, I contacted him to ask where I should go to school and what other advise and expertise he could give me. Those connections are important.

6. Have FUN! You got into this profession because you love it
 Have fun with it, especially on your first day. Day one of a new job is of course hard and you learn a lot, but go into it with a high head, a good attitude, and just have a good time learning everything. The knowledge you will learn with this job is going to make you a better athletic trainer, and that should be a great feeling!

I hope you all enjoyed my steps to not be nervous. I know I'll be thinking about all of them tonight! Let me know if you have any steps to shake off the nerves. I would like to hear your input!

Current Data About Us Women

So it has been brought to my attention that I have not been as informed about our profession as I thought. Let me explain... My supervisor texted me this link (which I will provide for you at the end) that states how female athletic trainers have benn more abundant now than in the past. Women make up 48% of the profession, which is amazing. There are only about 700 more males than females working in the field. The lack of females is in the 28-35 age bracket, which is due to these women wanting to start families. The marker shows a decline of females after the age of 28 and an increase in males in the secondary school around the same age. So I fix my arguement. I believe females are not presented well in college/university settings and professional sports. And women are definitely not acknowledged as much as men. Though the study I was given is interesting. Less than 1/3 of NCAA institutions have a head athletic trainer that is a female. It is also noted that sex is a factor in reduced salary for athletic trainers. Also, the high hour demand has caused a change in setting for females after having children because college and higher settings don't have as flexible hours to have a family. After age 28, female ATCs tend to decrease due to this factor, even though between age 22-28 they account for over 42% of ATCs.

There's a ton of information in this study and it's very interesting to read. I would like to know how many females represent in the NATA and how many females have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. I don't believe it's many. Below is the link to the study. Let me know your thoughts!

Http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3419155/