Jun 24, 2016NATA 2016: Start of AT Expo!
Check back here to read T&C Managing Editor Mary Kate Murphy’s insights from the floor of the NATA 67th Clinical Symposia & AT Expo in Baltimore. Mary Kate is armed with a pen, pad, and a list of educational seminars and will spend the rest of the week taking in the sights and sounds of the convention, sharing her observations in this blog.
Thursday, 1:03 p.m.
Got a little bit of a late start on my blogs today because we had a jam-packed morning and early afternoon! My day started with the NATA’s national press conference on “Reducing Your Risk in Work, Life, and Sport: An Educational Public Health Initiative.” As part of the advanced release of “Athletic Training and Public Health Summit” recommendations from the July issue of the Journal of Athletic Training, a panel of experts discussed commmon issues facing physically active children, adults, athletes, and military personnel. There was a big emphasis placed on taking public health approaches.
The panelists and their topics of discussion were:
- Mark Hoffman, PhD, ATC, FASCM, Vice Provost for International Programs at Oregon State University, covered how a public health approach can be used to address common medical issues in a variety of populations
- Douglas Casa, PhD, ATC, FACSM, FNATA, Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut and CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute, provided examples of four successful health and safety policy changes
- Jim Allivato, LAT, ATC, Director of Operations at ATI Worksite Solutions, revealed how early intervention and injury prevention programs can dramatically reduce musculoskeletal injuries in an industrial setting
- Tamara Valovich McLeod, PhD, ATC, Professor and Director of the Athletic Training Program at A.T.Still University, discussed concussion as a public health issue
- Michael Hooper, MA, ATC, CSCS, Sports Medicine Program Manager at Naval Special Warfare, addressed the benefits of implementing injury prevention programs in a military setting
- Kristin Kucera, PhD, LAT, ATC, Assistant Professor in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina, spoke about preventing catastropic sports injury among middle school, high school, and college athletes
- Brian Westbrook, former Pro Bowl runningback for the Philadelphia Eagles, described how athletic trainers impacted his career.
I think Westbrook spoke for all the panelists when he said: “I think the athletic trainers do a great job putting it in perspective what injury means and the long-term effect.”
~
After the press conference, I raced down to the see the opening of the AT Expo! I could feel the anticipation growing as the crowd grew larger and larger, and it was awesome to see the excitement on the athletic trainers’ faces when they were let inside the show! Here’s what it looked like from our side of things:
I
I spent the next few hours at our booth (#6104…woo!) chatting and interacting with readers. As you can see below, we were pretty busy!
As usual, it’s so great to talk with people who love our magazine. I got a lot of great feedback on ways readers use our publication. Namely, I was surprised how many athletic trainers show our articles to sport coaches–on a variety of topics, too! Whether it was strength and conditioning, nutrition, or rehab piece, I was so happy to hear how our articles were bringing coaches and athletic trainers together. Other athletic trainers said they enjoyed the variety of topics we cover, appreciated that we stay on the cuttting edge of sports medicine, and were utilizing our rehab case studies in their own practice. I’d love to hear from more readers, though, so definitely come chat with me tomorrow!
Finally, just wanted to let everyone know that Gladiator Custom Mouthguards is not located at booth #9022, as noted in the Official Convention Guide. Instead, you can find them at booth #1012.
