Paul,

I agree with your comments re mastery of competencies beyond our scope of
practice for the entry level student. If a person wants to delve into
consistent assessment of non orthopedic injuries, that individual should seek
further study in another profession.

However, I caution your emphasis on ATHLETIC Training. We have evolved from
that setting, but not all of our colleagues currently practice in the
traditional setting. 1/3 now practice in either clinical, industrial, or
corporate setting, and it's the fastest growing sector of our profession. I
don't believe any of the 44 state regulations allows an athletic trainer to do
more than orthopedic diagnoses (I'm sure someone may correct me if I am
misguided in my understanding). That doesn't mean that the profession should
not expose students to medical conditions / illnesses that may affect care.
Instead of emphasizing athletic injuries why not focus on orthopedic injuries,
then our entry level programs could equip young professionals with the
understanding that their skill sets would allow them to work in a broad range of
settings while not deverting attention away from our specialty - prevention and
accelerated protocol for orthopedic injuries.

All the best,

Scott Andrews, MSS, LAT, ATC,, CSCS
District 1 Representative - NATA Committee on Revenue
Supervisor, Athletic Training Svcs
HEALTHSOUTH
800-333-2561 x2858
scott.andrews@...