Healthcare Manners on Campus

5 Principles for Collegiate Athletic Trainers

Presence, Empathy, Accountability, Holistic Care, and Athlete Collaboration

These words are designed to both inspire and challenge future, early career and seasoned professionals, emphasizing the core values and practices that define truly effective healthcare, collegiate athletic trainers. My five fundamentals:

·       Being present during work

·       Exercising empathy with the patient

·       Upholding accountability

·       Adopting a holistic approach to athlete care

·       Empowering athletes to actively engage with and question their plan of care.

Explore the perspective of your clientele.

From the perspective of a new student athlete, stepping into the athletic training environment can be both exhilarating and overwhelming. There’s excitement at joining a team and working toward ambitious goals, but also uncertainty about navigating new routines, relationships, and expectations. As athletic trainers emphasize the importance of presence, empathy, and collaboration, the new athlete may feel both seen and supported—or, at times, invisible in the bustle of the training room.

For a student athlete, the presence of an athletic trainer who truly listens and pays attention can make a world of difference. It’s reassuring to know that someone notices not just obvious injuries, but also the subtle signs of fatigue or stress that might otherwise go unmentioned. When empathy is practiced, it bridges the gap between athletic trainer and student athletes, making it easier for newcomers to voice concerns, ask for help, or simply feel that they belong.

"Assumption that the student-athlete understands the role of the athletic trainer, services, opportunities, and protocols of the college sports healthcare process is a fundamental oversight"

Research informs us that collegiate athletes who had exposure to an Athletic Trainer (AT) in high school indicated higher commitment, higher integrity, and higher knowledge in their AT. In addition, collegiate athletes who had previous exposure to an AT in high school report having higher trust in their AT’s professional judgment and the medical care they had received. Note that 30% of secondary school athletic programs do not have an AT. This subset of new student athletes are vulnerable and must be well informed of process, expectations and their responsiblities.

More detail to come in furture entries from REPS on each of these fundamentals.