Interview Questions
What is your job title and job setting?
Job Title: Certified Athletic Trainer
Job Setting: Secondary School - Milton High School
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Provides healthcare to students aged 13-18 years old
What is your educational background?
Tara has a Bachelor's degree in athletic training from the University of West Florida. Tara also has certifications in Basic Life Support, the use of Rock tape and Rock blades, and in youth mental health first aid.
What made you interested in this field?
Tera became interested in the field after a coworker of hers on the navy base had an injury he didn’t want to be medically discharged for. So, when she saw him go to a facility in San Antonio with a full term of workers (OT, PT, ATC) she thought she would get into it to help serve the people who serve our country, but she then fell in live with the high school setting.
What are your primary duties as an athletic trainer?
Primary responsibilities consist of preventing, diagnosing, managing, and rehabbing sports related injuries for the student athletes.
What skills and personal attributes are key for success in your field?
Some skills that are necessary for success include adaptability, critical thinking/listening, personability, and the ability to act and trust on your training in an emergency is key.
What current challenges and trends in your field should I be aware of?
The fight for pay that equals what work is expected by the trainer and what education is required, which is now a master’s degree. There is sometimes a battle with communicating with coaches and administration with schedule changes as well.
What advice do you have for a student like me beginning their studies in a similar field?
Understand what the job asks of you, but you also have the right to work-life balance. It takes a lot of selflessness and caring for people immensely without a lot of thank you’s.
What's the best and worst part of working with athletes?
The best part is seeing athletes succeed after an injury, watching them get better from their lowest point. The worst part as an AT is working tirelessly to create a program to help the athletes get better and finding out that the athletes haven’t put in the work for their own recovery.
Reflection Questions
What did you learn from this interview that you did not know about the profession you selected?
Something that I somewhat knew about but didn’t really think about is that some athletes won’t work to fix and heal their injury. I hadn’t thought about this previously because as I was an athlete, if I was injured, I would do anything it took to get back out on the field, so it was somewhat surprising to see that some don’t put in the work to heal themselves.
How do you feel about your future profession after the interview?
This interview has almost reinforced my ideas of the athletic trainer profession and the field of athletic healthcare. I still want to work with athletes and help them with their injuries, both to heal and prevent.