Wednesday, June 10, 2009
editor@sddt.com
http://www.sddt.com
Source Code: 20090610tbc
By DOUG SHERWIN, The Daily Transcript
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
While the economic downturn has caused the job base for most industries to shrink, employment prospects for health-care workers, and in particular athletic trainers, is actually on the rise.
The latest report by the U.S. Department of Labor says positions in the athletic training industry are expected to see a 24 percent growth into 2016.
Compensation also is on the rise with the average annual salary for an athletic trainer having increased almost 14 percent since 2005 to more than $52,000.
The reasons for these developments are varied, according to local practitioners, but mostly it's the result of simple respect.
"The employment rise is due to the acceptance of athletic trainers as qualified health care professionals," said Carolyn Peters, an assistant athletic trainer at San Diego State University.
For a long time, athletic trainers were perceived as doing little more than taping ankles and performing rubdowns at sporting events.
"We did ourselves a disservice by calling ourselves 'trainers' and accepting roles behind the scenes," Peters said. "We'd do anything at anytime for anyone because we loved the profession so much.
"Times have changed, and we aren't accepting the low standards that were placed upon ourselves at one time."
Industry officials, meanwhile, raised the educational standards required to become a certified athletic trainer, helping them garner further respect within the medical field.
Not only do candidates require a bachelor's degree, but they also must have majored in an athletic training curriculum in order to be certified.
Peters said athletic trainers are well educated with 70 percent having advanced degrees. They take a very difficult, science-based curriculum supplemented by two years of practical, clinical experience.
"In general, there's a greater acceptance for our skills as athletic training professionals," said Mike West, president of the California Athletic Trainers' Association. "The term 'athletic trainer' has been so generic for so long. Our skill set, primarily with activity-related injuries, is becoming more sought after."
California has 16 schools with certified programs for athletic training, including SDSU and Point Loma Nazarene University.
Nationwide, 47 states require athletic trainers to be licensed or certified, although California is one of the few that doesn't. West said state officials are working on it.
The growth of athletic trainers also can be attributed to the increasing number of industries looking to employ their services.
No longer confined to the sporting arena, athletic trainers now are being hired by the military, performing arts companies, corporations and even wineries.
Sports injury specialists can be found on staff at Disneyland and some Las Vegas show productions, too.
Businesses that employ any type of repetitive labor also are inclined to have an athletic trainer on staff.
"It really is a benefit to companies that can utilize a certified athletic trainer to help decrease sick leave and injuries on the job," SDSU's Peters said.
West agreed, saying an injured employee who sees an athletic trainer on site can get treatment more quickly and return to work soon.
The on-staff athletic trainers can help by installing preventative measures.
Athletic trainers are employed in the medical industry, like hospitals, physicians' offices, wellness centers and chiropractors' offices.
"We've done a better job of educating, not only general public, but other medical professionals about our skill sets, about what we can do," said West, who's an athletic trainer and assistant principal at Patriot High School in Riverside. "We've demonstrated our worth, not just with our skills, but with our cost ratio. Athletic trainer salaries are not as high as other health care practitioners doing similar duties."
Peters is happy the profession is getting the respect it deserves.
"We've spent a lot of hours practicing our trade, taking the national board certification and (earning) continuing education units," Peters said. "It's nice to have the validation that we have a valuable profession."