Athletic Training

[mathlegend]

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So I was researching on the field of sports medicine. I found the major Athletic Training. It seems interesting, but also it seems to take a lot of time, with the clinical hours. Is it manageable with the premed courses? It seems like the schedules are packed full...

 

[MilkmanAl]

You could do it. It'd be pretty useful, especially if that's what you think you want to go into.

 

[mathlegend]

Thanks for the input. Lately, I've been looking into sports medicine, both surgical and non surgical. (But still considering podiatry! 😀)

 

[malfee]

mathlegend, I too am interested in sports medicine; however, I do not like the sound of the Athletic Training major. While it is true it is very related to sports medicine, it seems to be focused on preparing students to become actual Athletic Trainers. On the other hand, the major I will be studying in college is known as Exercise Science, which can also branch off into Exercise Physiology. Exercise Science appears to focus more on the science and technical aspects of the same subject, which is something I would much rather study than purely pre-Athletic Training.

For example, one of the courses I will eventually take at my undergrad will be Biochemistry of Exercise, which will likely consist of heavy study of the nitty gritty physiological aspects of exercise, something that I am fascinated with. On the contrary, a typical Athletic Training course may teach you how to physically care for a basic athletic injury. While I think the latter is useful to know, that is simply something that I am not too fond of learning when compared with the former course.

Ultimately, either major can get you into medical school, so it's really up to you to decide what type of study you're more interested in.

 

[Gallix23]

I would say only major in athletic training if that is what you could see yourself doing in the chance that med school doesn't work out, because an athletic training degree only gives you so many options after you graduate...

In an athletic training major, you are going to be with kids who are dead set on becoming athletic trainers. Sure, there may be other pre-meds, but for the most part it's going to be kids who just want to athletic train. Since many athletic trainers are also gym teachers and things like that, you may even need to take some education courses etc. etc. You should find out what that program entails before committing to it or giving it further thought.

 

[mathlegend]

Thanks for the responses. I'll look deeper into athletic training, to see what I'd possibly put myself into. I'll also explore other majors 🙂

 

[MilkmanAl]

Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with Gallix. However, since you'll have a bunch of straight biology thanks to the premed/podiatry pre-reqs, I think "exercise science" or whatever BS moniker your school decides to use is a very viable option. Should you decide to not pursue a profession in health care, you'll have set yourself up nicely for a physiology or biophysics research position. In med school, you'd be lightyears ahead of everyone else during physiology and possibly anatomy when doing the musculoskeletal system, and you'd already have the conceptual framework for those courses down. Given how abysmally the med school pre-reqs prepare you for med school, that'd be a nice advantage.

 

[mathlegend]

True...but math is so fun 😀 Luckily I have 2+ years to decide

 

[Royal Rooters]

I actually went to undergrad for athletic training, got my degree and passed my national exam. However, after 4 years of hard work I realized that the long, inconsistent hours, little pay, and time away from family just was not worth it for me. Now granted, I did learn a great deal about rehabilitation, patient interaction, gaining patient trust, forming a rapport with the patients, and obtaining a great deal of confidence in my ability to be a health care provider. I just knew I wanted a bit more.

Taking the pre-med courses simultaneously is possible (I had a few classmates who did it), but your time is very limited due to the great commitment to clinical work, travel time, and your AT classes. Not to mention trying to find time in there for yourself and friends.

I just finished all my pre-med classes in a post-bacc after graduation (took me 3 years due to working full time and supporting wife in law school), but it's been 100% worth it. I just got my MCAT scores back and expect to apply to pod school for 2010. So if sports medicine is something you want to do, then I suggest shadowing an athletic trainer for sometime to really get a feel for what the profession is like. FYI, we had 20 people my first day freshmen year and of those 20, only 2 people (including myself) made it all 4 years. Others came and went a long the way, so we ended up with a total of 7 in my class. But 2 surviving out of 20 is NOT a good number. Especially considering I don't practice and am preparing for another field.

This ended up being longer than expected, so PM me if you have any particular questions.

Hope this helps! 🙂

 

[jay85]

Thanks for posting Rooters...it solidified my slight fear in anticipation of the years to come 🙂
I'm going into my second year as an premed athletic training major this fall and I really hope I do not get overwhelmed with clinical hours and premed classes.

I'll be taking physics, human physiology, a stats class, and two athletic training classes. *fingers crossed* for my sanity. gross human anatomy second semester - enough said.

So far I've done pretty well..3.77 cumulative freshman year and I finished one semester of bio, one of anatomy, and two of general chem with an A, A-, A, and A respectively. However, I feel like this might not reflect my performance in the years to come considering I only had two clinical hours per week this past year.

Junior year will be organic chemistry and all athletic training classes. I COULD defer organic to senior year if necessary, but I assume I will have to apply to med school later.

It's going to be an interesting challenge.
Anyway to the OP, stick with it if you have the proper science background. Athletic training is an awesome major. It's the most practical healthcare undergraduate major my university offers (aside from speech-language pathology, which is a five year program). Just remember, with tenacity, all goals - no matter how difficult - can be reached.

 

[HrryUpNwait]

.

 

[MossPoh]

Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with Gallix. However, since you'll have a bunch of straight biology thanks to the premed/podiatry pre-reqs, I think "exercise science" or whatever BS moniker your school decides to use is a very viable option. Should you decide to not pursue a profession in health care, you'll have set yourself up nicely for a physiology or biophysics research position. In med school, you'd be lightyears ahead of everyone else during physiology and possibly anatomy when doing the musculoskeletal system, and you'd already have the conceptual framework for those courses down. Given how abysmally the med school pre-reqs prepare you for med school, that'd be a nice advantage.

Not really. It is completely different and, yes, while it helps with certain things, the vast majority of the stuff is in a depth and format that is completely different than undergrad. My knowledge of MSK was useful for the first two weeks of the course. As an athletic trainer, you aren't really concerned with every minute muscle, nor are you concerned with the clinical aspect.

Bottom line, just major in whatever the hell you want. I was information science technology and German. I was also a speed and strength trainer and am a certified strength and conditioning specialist. Nobody is light years ahead with anything once you start med school. We all have strengths and weaknesses, but excluding the Ph.D. in physiology, there isn't too much of a difference.

 

[mathlegend]

Thanks for the input guys! I'm still exploring majors...ehehe

 

[rpadilla]

q

 

[MossPoh]

Keep in mind, you can do lots of sports stuff with podiatry as well. (Just noticed you said you are considering it). Gait analysis and all that fun stuff is pretty important in sports. If your feet aren't in good condition and you are wearing the wrong shoes then you are hosed in that sport.