|
By Michael Childs
Positioning itself to become a leader in sports medicine, UGA is starting an athletic-training education program that will help provide Georgia high school athletes with better athletic health care and offer more employment opportunities for those interested in the field as a career.
The inauguration of the program and dedication of the Nova Care Athletic Training Research and Education Laboratory is scheduled for Jan. 26 at 1:15 p.m. in the Ramsey Student Center. Kent Falb, president of the National Athletic Trainers Association and head athletic trainer for the Detroit Lions, will deliver the keynote address in rooms 203-204 of the Ramsey Center at 7 p.m.
 Although certified athletic trainers have long been the standard of care in intercollegiate and professional sports, less than 5 percent of high schools in Georgia currently employ an ATC. UGA’s sports-medicine program employs seven staff and six graduate-assistant ATCs to work with its 500 student-athletes.
Parents, high school coaches and administrators are beginning to realize the value of having a trained individual to care for children participating in sports. In June 1998, the American Medical Association adopted a policy calling for NATA-certified athletic trainers in all high school athletic programs, signaling a continuing commitment to sports safety and a confidence in ATCs.
The new training program in the College of Education’s School of Health and Human Performance was developed through innovative partnerships with corporate sponsors Coca-Cola and Nova Care, Inc. Nova Care provided funds to equip the lab as a traditional clinical athletic health-care facility. The Coca-Cola Foundation provided initial funds for an
athletic-training educator to design, develop and implement an accredited athletic training program.
The program director, Mike Ferrara, an associate professor in exercise science, came to UGA last June from Ball State University, where he had directed an athletic-training education program for 13 years. Ferrara has also participated on several accreditation-review teams evaluating prospective athletic-training programs at other major universities.
Because of his expertise, Ferrara has been sought out as an advisor to a variety of professional groups, including the International Paralympic Committee, NATA and the U.S. Olympic Committee. He served as the director of medical operations for the Atlanta Paralympic Organizing Committee in 1995-96 and currently chairs NATA’s World Federation of Athletic Training Committee.
Athletic training is a fast-growing field in the Southeast, and this area is fertile ground for development of a new program, says Ferrara.
“We’ve had tremendous interest from all over,” he says. “I’ve had students call wanting to transfer to Georgia to get into our program.”
That should come as no surprise. UGA’s program will be only the second accredited program in the state--the first was at Valdosta State University. It will be the third program in the Southeastern Conference, with the others at the University of Alabama and the University of South Carolina. Currently, only 85 post-secondary educational institutions nationally have accredited programs for the professional preparation of an athletic trainer.
Academic courses began this semester in the two-year undergraduate program. It consists of such core courses as anatomy, physiology, exercise physiology, biomechanics, human nutrition, personal health and sports psychology. Specific athletic-training courses will include injury evaluation, therapeutic modalities, therapeutic rehabilitation, first aid and emergency care, organization and administration and prevention of athletic injuries.
Accreditation requires a comprehensive institutional self-study, then a review by an accrediting body, followed by a site visitation by accreditation team members. The entire process lasts 12-18 months.
The program will have a strong clinical orientation in that all the classes will have a laboratory component in which students will be able to apply skills and techniques they’ve learned in the classroom, says Ferrara.
The program will also feature UGA Director of Sports Medicine Ron Courson and staff athletic trainers Steve Bryant, Mike Dillon, Mike Clanton, Jeff Tanner, Lisa Irby and Rebecca Klinger as clinical instructors.
“Our goal is very simple--to be a leader in sports medicine,” says Ferrara. “When people have a job or employment opportunity I want them to think UGA first. And they will, because they’ll know UGA grads are top students and strong clinicians.”
|
|
|
