photo by Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph Certified athletic trainers Nicole Cantine, left, and Maria Dominguez, right, laugh as they put plaster splints on each other Friday morning Feb. 20, 2015 as part of an educational event for Trinity Mother Francis Orthopedics and Sports Medicine staff members, area school employed athletic trainers and high school student athletic trainers. Student athletic trainers from Whitehouse ISD and West Rusk ISD attended the event which was held at First Christian Church in Tyler, Texas.

On Friday, students from Whitehouse ISD and West Rusk Consolidated ISD learned how to provide splints and casts to the upper and lower extremities of the body. They made use of Ortho-Glass and other materials to aid in the treatment of a potential injury. Their training is part of a free program through Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics’ Orthopedics and Sports Medicine athletic training program.

Students like Hunter Swain, 17, will not only increase his knowledge of sports medicine, but it also prepares him for a lifelong career.

He’s participated in athletic training at Whitehouse High School for four years and intends to do it professionally one day.

“I originally got into it because I knew I wanted to go into the medical field, so I felt some hands on experience would be beneficial,” he said.

Swain wanted to be a family medicine doctor, but while working with his school’s athletic teams, he knew he wanted to be an athletic trainer instead. He’s currently considering three colleges and will pursue a master’s degree in athletic training. His ideal job is working with a rodeo or Major League Baseball.

Victoria Womack, 18, has taken sports medicine classes at West Rusk Consolidated ISD for two years. Also an athlete, she too had a different career path in mind when entering high school.

She thought she’d study theater arts or interior design but now, she wants to merge her athletic training skills with military service.

“I decided to go into the military because I wanted to challenge myself and athletic training challenges me everyday,” she said. “You’re helping people be better and it makes you feel better about yourself.”

Jay Ramsey, men’s athletic trainer at Whitehouse High School, brought along 19 students to learn how to create splints and casts. Three of his students anticipate scholarships upon graduation.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to get hands on experience,” Ramsey said. “They’re here to learn. Some are interested in a career, others are using it as a jumping board to get experience for another career, like a doctor, nurse, or physical therapist.”

Training like Friday’s session is offered throughout the year, providing continuing education units to licensed professionals. In the past, these monthly sessions were designed specifically for licensed trainers and new graduate assistants, but hospital officials have now opened it up to high school students.

Mother Frances implemented its athletic trainer program in 1997, with the goal of providing area schools with qualified athletic trainers. They work with area colleges and universities to train graduates, who seek master’s degrees in kinesiology or other related-fields.

Graduate assistants with the program serve at least 25 school districts and three colleges.

AN EVOLVING PROFESSION

Alisha Hamilton, head athletic trainer at West Rusk CISD, teaches four sports medicine classes each day. She came from Alabama in 2010 to work with Mother Frances’ athletic training program. Graduate assistants often go on to work at schools and may also teach.

“When you come to work at the hospital, they place you at a school to provide coverage,” Ms. Hamilton said. “In my case, the high school hired me full time after the program with the hospital.”

Trainers are charged with the overall health care of an athlete and must learn injury prevention, emergency care, how to evaluate an injury and maintain medical files.

Ms. Hamilton said athletic training is an evolving profession, noting that the Texas Education Agency has approved sports medicine classes to be part of high school curricula in recent years.

“That’s the most exciting part of what I’ve started at West Rusk,” Ms. Hamilton said. “I am exposing them to the opportunity to pursue medical careers and they may not all go into athletic training specifically, but I’ve got five or six who are seriously considering that at the next level.”

In the first year of a sports medicine course, high school students learn about possible professions, medical specialties, injury prevention and anatomy.

The coursework also improves students’ chances of getting admitted into a related medical program.

“I definitely think it’ll give them a head start and an advantage in those prerequisites they’ll be required to take,” Ms. Hamilton said.

Jim Rapp, director of sports medicine at Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics said the program has grown in East Texas and is well sought.

“It is a unique program in the United States,” Rapp said. “We have a unique model. All of the people that we bring in, each one is dedicated to a specific school. They are licensed and in almost in every case they are nationally board certified professionals. They’re working on a master’s degree while they’re with us.”

Rapp said more than 70 percent of athletic trainers in Texas have a master’s degree, which gives them an edge when applying for jobs. In East Texas, an athletic trainer’s salary may range from $40,000 to $50,000 and is higher in metropolitan areas. The pay and Texas’ high concentration of physicians, who work closely with trainers, are among the factors that attract people from across the country to Texas.

“This is a premier state for this profession,” Rapp said.