Fear and Loathing in Athletic Training
The DAT cohort of 2019 appears to be a rather unique one. Unlike past cohorts, many of us have found ourselves in Moscow Idaho on a temporary basis as we pursue the opportunity to become members of an elite group of experts in our profession. For many in the 2019 cohort this leaves us in a position to seek employment, after completing our doctoral educations, in a profession that appears to be bewildered about a number of issues including but not limited to identity, compensation, qualifications, and expectations. For this athletic trainer, one who is quite new to the profession, this has left me equally bewildered and vexed, and I have some questions. Recently there was a panel podcast that included the NATA President, the CAATE President, the NATA Foundation President, and the President of the BOC. I listened for 10-15 minutes before I was dumbstruck by the questions being asked by the host and the nature of the answers provided by a seemingly bewildered panel of principle leaders of our profession. I will admit, there may have been more insight in this group than I am giving them credit for, however, if the first 10 to 15 minutes is any indication, I remain skeptical and I have some questions of my own.
Compensation and Expectations
How did we arrive at place where Ohio State University, with roughly $167million in athletic expenses, $171million in athletic revenue, (1) can justify paying their women's rowing AT, a team that has won 3 national titles since 2013, with a roster of 45, (2) an annual salary of 48k per year?(3) This is a salary that is below the state of Ohio median according to the most recent NATA Salary Survey.(4) How can this same department offer 12 month internships with a job description of 40+ hours per week with pay listed at $11.54 per hour?(5) This is a wage lower than the minimum wage in Washington, Washington DC, Massachusetts, California, and by next year will be lower than Colorado, New York, Maine, Oregon, and Vermont.(6) Keep in mind that the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour with Ohio outpacing it at $8.55 per hour.(5) How did we get here? Is our leadership OK with this? Are our academic programs OK with this?Are our young professionals OK with this? More importantly, what are we going to do to change this? What is our leadership doing to change this?
Qualification
A quick look at neighboring athletic training professional programs yields a great deal of difference in the required education to enter the profession. This seems even stranger as the profession enters a new era where a 'masters' degree is required to sit for the BOC.
Program 1: 70 Credits in AT. 39 of these credits are delivered in the first 4 years during the student’s bachelor level education. Of these 39 credits 9 are 500 level courses. 31 Credits are delivered in the 5th year of the students education including a summer semester for a total of 40 500 level credits. This would seem to amount to a post baccalaureate certificate yet is understood to be a professional masters degree.
Program 2: 84 credits in AT. 84 credits delivered at the 500 level. 84 credits delivered in 2 full years after the student has completed their baccalaureate level education.
Does this difference in academic delivery negate the standards set in place for degree change? Were there any standards set in place? How is such a disparity in educational and academic standards allowed if we expect to be considered a serious healthcare profession?
Identity
51% of people are below average at any given moment in any given endeavor. However, it only takes a moment to observe the Alice in Wonderland-esque rabbit hole that is social media to discover that the average AT may be a bit below average. While we all can understand a level of cynicism that may come with any job, career, or life in general, it seems that AT has struck a level of arrested development that seems impossible as a profession. For example, it is common practice to see secondary school ATs publicly refer to the sport of wrestling as 'competitive cuddling' or refer to basketball as 'thump thump'. The public disparaging of patients, parents, coaches, administrators, and officials, regardless of context is also a common practice. Is this a profession? The arguments, over masters and doctoral level education, or, especially in the NATA and CAATE home state of Texas, the need for and utility of the NATA and BOC, that persist are sometimes shocking. Consider that the NATA was founded in 1950, the BOC in 1970, and CAATE effectively in 1991, yet a predator in Montana with no education or training had been masquerading unchecked as a member of our profession for nearly 40 years. Imagine if no oversight or standards existed? Are we serious about our profession as healthcare providers? As I look to my immediate future I am becoming more and more concerned. In 2006 I completed a bachelors degree in health and physical education, in 2010 a masters degree in coaching and human physiology, in 2017 a masters of science in athletic training, and I am now less than three months away from completing my doctoral degree in athletic training. Should I expect minimum wage? Should I expect to be subject to the whims of someone who has no discernible education in their field, or mine, yet makes $200,000 dollars a week while I labor as a medical professional for $35,000-$100,000 a year? Is my alternative to be unemployed in September? While in the short term fear, and anger the cudgel I wield against fear, have certainly crept in, I am hopeful for my long-term future and the long-term future of our profession. I intend on pushing forth as a clinician, educator, and perhaps eventually as a member of our professional leadership to positively change anything and everything that I may.
References
1. https://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/2017/03/ohio_state_buckeyes_sports_mon.html
2. https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/w-rowing/
3. https://hr.osu.edu/services/statistics-reports/
4. https://members.nata.org/members1/salarysurvey2018/results2.cfm
5. https://jobs.nata.org/job/certified-athletic-trainer-internship/47178185/
6. http://www.ncsl.org/research/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wage-chart.aspx