My Mentor Shatt Vang

Last week Thursday on the orthopedic clinic was a slow but eye opening experience. When I got to the clinic at 8AM, after I was introduced to some of the nurses there, I was immediately assigned to a Medical Assistant (MA) that I had shadow for half of the day. The MA shows me around the clinical and explained her role and responsibility in the clinic setting. During the first several hours, and MA and I were quite busy rooming the patient. Because the MA want me to see how to do thoroughly assessment on a new patient, the MA did a thoroughly assessment and examinations on the first patient we saw. During the assessment, the MA also explained some of the medical procedures to the patient. She did a set of vitals on the patient, particular on new patient, such as blood pressure, height, and weight. We had a total of 15 patients during the morning.

Becoming a student athletic trainer has changed me greatly. I learned responsibility and the depth of what goes on in sports behind the scenes. I now know how to assist people when they’re hurt by taping their fingers, wrists, hand-wrist combinations, ankles,

I have recently had an issue with one of my trainee’s, she did not want to be taught anymore, and just wanted to be assessed on her cutting. She felt she had had enough training , although I didn’t. As she felt very strongly about this I allowed her to do a model we were going to use as training as an assessment, I did this so she would understand that she needs more training. Once she had completed the assessment I checked the cut, and explained to her where she had gone wrong, and also explained to her that with a little bit more practice she would be able to be assessed on models similar to what she had done and would be able to be marked off on them.

While a sophomore in high school, I had the opportunity to take a sports medicine elective class. At first, I was not too sure about it, but I thought I would give it a try and I ended up loving every second of the class, especially the hands-on experience. After taking both levels of the course, I learned a great deal about taping, special tests, the different treatment modalities, all the joints of the body and common injuries for each, as well as the different career options under the sports medicine umbrella. Since I enjoyed the course, I signed up for my school’s Athletic Training club where I was a student trainer for the wrestling and soccer teams. I worked alongside the school’s head athletic trainer to help tape, stretch, and provide first aid for the athletes both on and off the field. We also worked to provide and implement rehabilitation plans to help the athletes return to play after an injury. From this experience, I learned that I enjoy working with athletes and I wanted to pursue Athletic Training in college. After researching the different colleges in Georgia that offered

Immediate care provided by an Athletic Trainer can reduce the onset of short-term and long-term side effects which can effect one's quality of life. In more serious cases such as concussions or spinal injuries among other conditions an Athletic Trainer can be the difference between life or death. Since Athletic Trainers are not doctors, we are only allowed to offer the basic medical care in an emergency situation. But Athletic Trainers can cut finical costs by appropriately assessing injuries and determining the proper referral to eliminate unnecessary Emergency Room and physicians visits which can be

These trainers evaluated every athlete’s injury with care and provides a mild diagnosis. After each athlete was done being observed and/or given therapy, the athletic trainers completed a log sheet with the athlete’s name, sport and therapy. The did this to keep track for future references. They communicated with the athletes in ways they could fully understand what was wrong and how to get themselves better. The trainers served as health education resource by answering any questions asked by athletes and/or their parents regarding their health and injuries. They managed their training rooms with ease, there wasn’t anyone running in and out the room or just standing around. They acknowledged everyone that came in. They also gave the athletes a goal to reach and helped them get there every time they came in for

During my soccer season my sophomore year I injured my knee. I started seeing the school's athletic trainer for treatment. Nothing seemed to ease my discomfort so I was referred to a doctor. The doctor wasn't in so I saw his P.A. who had started out as an Athletic Trainer. He was so knowledgeable about sports medicine and we’d talk about athletic training during my appointments. Eventually

The field of Athletic Training is a never-ending learning experience. This career can be very time demanding and some may find themselves on their feet for majority of the workday. Always being on the move can be hard to gather new information, or new ways to benefit the skills acquired in this field. Athletic Training is a very broad field, which contains skills, methods, and research. Athletic Trainers (ATs) are health care providers for those who are injured. Most people recognize ATs as first responders in professional sports, collegiate sports, and high school sports. What some people may not know is that ATs collaborate with physicians to provide them with the primary diagnostic when the injury occurred. Other services that ATs provide

Two years ago on a crisp October afternoon following school, I walked to the training room expecting a normal day for us. There would be the tapping of ankles, wrist, and thumbs, along with rehabilitation exercises and the whines and complains of athletes who would sit in the whirlpool for various injuries. After changing into sports medicine attire and putting my books up I was asked to take a framed object next door to the athletic director’s office. While patiently waiting for him to finish a meeting with

Being around sports my whole life has made me have an interest in athletic training. What really started my interest in athletic training was when my friend got injured during a football game. It turned out that he had a compound fracture in his right shin. Right when the injury appeared, As he was trying to get up I was there to hold him onto the ground until the athletic trainer made it to the field. After shadowing an athletic trainer I have learned that there is a tremendous amount of paperwork and filing in this profession, after shadowing an athletic trainer, you realize it’s not just taping ankles and sitting around.

In example, he talked about taking many medicine and anatomy classes along with taking chemistry and biology. Some characteristics he considered having included having excellent communication and listening skills, having the ability to analyze situations, having good hand coordination, being able to read effectively, and having good memory. He said that he uses all of these on a daily basis in order to do his job successfully. Despite discussing a lot about Sports Medicine, however, not a lot happened in the training room. We talked for most of the time and a student assistant was studying from a book in the corner. She did not necessarily do much except help when a couple of people came. Most of these people were from the lifting room and usually needed ice. One person, for example, came to get ice on his knee and the assistant helped him get it. He also came back another time and requested that Ross tie the ice to his knee, and that is exactly what Ross did. He used what I believed to be wrap to tie the ice snuggly around the guy’s

Reflecting from mistakes and practice are major key components of the learning process. This history taking experience with a patient has been truly effective for my future as a Doctor of Physical Therapy. This experience has helped me a lot on improving my communication and interpersonal skills with patients both verbally and non-verbally. Feedback and review were also truly beneficial aspects in the learning part of this experience.

Tammy, I would agree there is a major difference between knowing how to perform a specific skill and knowing how to perform that skill effectively. I think it is great that you offer new nurses to your department an extensive orientation and training. Wound vac care can be tedious, depending on the wound, requiring much training and then follow-up training to ensure it is being performed correctly. The surrounding skin appearance of a wound bed is a good indicator of correct wound vac application. Your expertise in wound care with precise skin barrier methods prevented further complications with this already painful wound. When patients get, frustrated or are having a lot of pain related to a treatment or procedure, many times they will refuse

My mentor is Andre Dodson, my pastor and also my father. Andre is very short, like myself and is a light-skin toned African American, bald-headed man. Besides him being a pastor and a father, he is also a boxing coach. I would describe Andre as calm and respectful, yet outspoken and opinionated. We have a few of the same qualities which is why we tend to bump heads now; we are just now learning one another. I’m more humble than my old self. I’m calm, cool, and collected and very open-minded. I just moved back to Cleveland from Arizona. I lived with my mother, who I never understood, but I’ve never lived without her until February when CPS stepped in and took me away from her. This was odd to me; 17 years all I knew was my mother I didn’t know

One of my early mentors — I’ll call him James — was a well-known trial lawyer in Peoria. I met James in January 1983, the same month that I opened my law practice. He started out by giving me research and writing projects. Before long, I was covering his court hearings and helping him prepare cases for trial.