PassionATe
Guess who’s back…back again…? If you’re getting Eminem vibes right now, you are my people!!
I’m baaaaack! This time, it seems by popular demand. Lucky me? Maybe. For those who don’t know me and are joining the party for the first time, I encourage you to read through some of my original blog posts. They are not in chronological order, but do paint a pretty good picture of who I am and where I’ve been.
For those of you who were following me and reading my blogs, thank you and I apologize for the extended absence. You know this crazy thing called “life” happens and sometimes takes us by storm. It forced me to take a writing sabbatical…which was not great for me. Journaling is my ultimate stress reliever. It’s incredibly therapeutic and very much under valued. Kind of like athletic trainers. I’ll get into that shortly. Much has happened during my time away and you’ll hear about it soon enough. The short story is…I was trying to find my way. The long story is…I was trying to find my way. Truth be told, I still am. But writing seems to be the best way to navigate all the turns life throws at me and unfortunately I disregarded that for far too long.
I’ve been teetering on when was a good time to hop back in the saddle and get moving again. If you missed it, my website has even been non-existent as I deactivated it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue paying money to throw my thoughts out on the internet for the world to see. But then it hit the other day after being in a conversation.
At work earlier this week, I was chatting with colleagues about the athletic training profession and how it has basically gone to shit. It gets me fired up every time because I am so passionate about it. Any ways, rather than write about it at the time, I made a reel and posted it on my social media accounts. It took the internet by storm…at least by my standards. As I sit and type this, it has reached 23,000 people and counting. My introverted self is mind blown. I don’t even know that many people!! The internet is crazy insane. To be honest, I’m not sure what about this reel has gained so much traction, but it was my sign to start blogging again, more specifically about my experiences as an athletic trainer.
The profession is in a rough patch right now, to say the least and the worst part is that it’s really by our own doing. I’m hopeful that we are not too far gone and can recover from this #fail.
Without going into great detail about my career…right now (see prior blog posts), I am an experienced athletic trainer who moved on from the traditional setting. I practiced in the high school setting for 13 years and loved what I did. Let me reiterate that…LOVED what I did. I can’t think of anything I am more passionate about. I have since moved on as a result of a poorly, mismanaged profession. Much can be said about what caused the ultimate demise however, I think it was the culmination of many things that resulted in this immense failure that we are experiencing.
If you’re not an athletic trainer (AT) or don’t understand the profession, you might be confused…and that’s okay. There are plenty of people who are involved that are equally confused, which is disappointing. Athletic training is a unique profession in that it encompasses a variety of skill sets that cross over with other health care professionals. Everything from emergency care to PT and everything in between. You can think of us as the “jack of all trades”…along with mastering them all, of course. Being a misunderstood profession created a poor representation, if you will, about who we are and what we do. As a result and what I believe was a move to gain more respect and money, our profession made the decision to move to an entry level Master’s program. Doesn’t seem all that bad, right? PAs do it. PTs did it until they moved to a doctorate program. RNs have their programs. The difference…they all have salaries and expectations that match their output.
The plan was great in theory…maybe, depending on who you ask. The practicality…couldn’t be worse. What we’ve done is created a bunch of ATs with zero experience that can’t afford to make ends meet. You’re probably asking…”what is she talking about”? I’m here to explain. You can’t reasonably ask a health care provider, especially with a master’s degree or beyond to work 50+ hour, 6-7 day work weeks for $45,000-$55,000/year. That’s insanity. It makes me cringe to write that. Even more so to admit I was one of those idiots for many years. Although I started prior to the implementation of the new education standards. I was more than prepared to take on the profession!
Why was I a part of the problem? Because I LOVE being an athletic trainer. It is incredibly rewarding…until it isn’t. The problem is too many of us have just accepted that this is the way it is. We have allowed this to go on for far too long. We have exposed all of our skill sets and the willingness to perform them at a cheap price, repeatedly. If I was hiring an AT and knew of all they did and what they were willing to accept for pay, I would snatch them all up. We have been and many continue to accept this poor salary with unrealistic expectations and justify it as being passionate. No. No. NO. It has to STOP! We are perpetuating the problem by staying in these positions and allowing employers to walk all over us. The line has to be drawn somewhere and now is the time.
For all the ATs reading this right now, it’s time to stand up for yourself. You deserve better and you know it. Don’t settle…EVER. These schools and organizations and clinics know exactly what they have in you. Don’t sell yourself short. The more we continue to accept this, the longer it persists. I love that colleges are drastically understaffed right now. Let it continue. Let them feel it, like you’ve been feeling it. They have a budget and can allocate funds to pay fair wages. They choose NOT to. Remember that. THEY CHOOSE NOT TO!!! Let that sink in a little more. When it comes up in conversation, I always ask…is it cheaper to pay an AT what they deserve or pay for lawsuit that’s coming when something major happens and you don’t have an AT? Cue the usual crickets…
Believe me…I get that you don’t want the athletes to suffer because there won’t be an AT. I struggled with that for a long time. They’ll be ok. I promise. We didn’t always exist and people did fine. They are spoiled with experiencing the luxury of having someone who cares that deeply about their wellbeing, and keeping them healthy and on the field. What about yourself, though? At what point are you going to look in the mirror and recognize your own value? Is it worth working 50+ hours, 6 to 7 days a week, only to maybe make ends meet? ZERO work-life balance. That is not a thing…right? Because ATs aren’t allowed to take time off, especially during football season. God forbid! That’s crazy talk. I went a decade without taking a vacation because I felt like I was letting my athletes down. If this is you. Get out of that mindset right now. This is not about your athletes anymore. This is about YOU! This is about standing up for yourself. Doing right by YOU and no one else.
Until we figure that out, nothing will change. Thankfully there are other emerging settings for ATs that pay decent money and recognize the importance of having a life outside of work. I encourage any AT that is looking to stay in the profession, to look into these opportunities. The growth over the past 5 years or so in the industrial setting is insane. And believe me, they are welcoming ATs with open arms because they know what we bring to the table. So for right now…bye-bye to the traditional AT setting. Let those folks figure out what they want to do. Sports will go on with or without us. Whether you are contracted through a clinic or hired directly…don’t think twice about walking away for a better opportunity.
The more we continue to accept these positions and pay rates, the longer this continues. When they can start paying ATs what we deserve and respecting boundaries and work-life balance and honoring time off, I’m sure many of us will return. Until then, peace out. I will always be passionATe, but most importantly ALWAYS know my worth…and add tax for good measure! You should consider doing the same.