Certified Athletic Trainer-Sports Medicine
Part-time Instructor-OCC
NATA ANNUAL MEETING AND CLINICAL SYMPOSIA
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA
JUNE 26-30, 2007
The annual meeting was well attended by athletic trainers and athletic training students from all over the country. I was able to attended meetings, workshops, and walk through the exhibits, talking to the representatives proudly displaying their products.
One meeting of particular interest was the clinical instructor educator seminar. We covered the development, implementation, instruction, management and evaluation of clinical instruction. As an athletic trainer, I am responsible for the education and experience of the athletic training students attending OCC and those students that are assigned to me from four year schools that need finish their required hours. One heated topic was the expectations we have for the students. We felt that the students and their evaluator need to have consistency when it comes to what is expected of both the evaluator and the student. Whether they are attending a four year school or a community college there needs to be a standard. Along with other certified trainers, we were able to come up with a document for the management and evaluation of the clinical instruction. Every student and school will have the same form when it comes to their weekly and monthly evaluations.
It was difficult to choose from all workshops that were offered. The ones I attended were full of great speakers who provided useful information during their lectures. Since coming to work at OCC, I have come into contact with more athletes who maintain a vegetarian lifestyle. One workshop I attended was the Practical Suggestions for the Vegetarian athlete. The speaker, Kathleen Laquale, PhD,ATC,LAT, gave examples and suggestions for pre-game and post-game meals. She acknowledged the need to replace carbohydrates and protein so the athlete has a better recovery time. This is also where she mentioned the sports drink Accelerade, which replaces both. Another point of interest, that I was not aware of, was when she said B-12 deficiency, stress fractures, anemia, and fatigue may mask an eating disorder.
The exhibitors display is always a great place to see the newest products available to the sports medicine community. There were two booths that I wanted to visit since their products were mentioned by name in the lectures I attended. One was the Accelerade, for protein replacement and the other was the Pickle Juice Sport, to help with relieving muscle cramps. I sampled both products. Accelerade tasted like any other sports drink and the Pickle Juice tastes just as the name implies.
I enjoyed the educational meetings, workshops and exhibitors at this year’s NATA annual meeting. By sharing the information I acquired, it has improved my lecture and teaching in the classroom and has also allowed me maintain current academic and technical knowledge and skills.