What an athletic trainer really does
You are the first health professional on the scene when an athlete goes down, and the person who decides when they are safe to play again, even when the coach disagrees.
FieldHealth
Preparation (O*NET Job Zone)Extensive preparation needed
What the work involves
What fills a typical week for athletic trainers, built from O*NET occupation data.
- Morning treatment hours in the athletic training room: ice, rehab exercises, taping and checking on injured athletes
- Sending coaches a daily availability report on who can practice fully, who is limited and who is out
- Covering practices and games on the sideline, often outdoors in heat or cold
- Evaluating new injuries and deciding who needs a physician referral
- Running concussion and return to play protocols with the team physician
- Writing injury notes and treatment records, plus insurance paperwork
- Traveling with teams and working nights and weekends during the season
What the days are like
What people in the job know
- The hours are long and follow the team's schedule, including nights, weekends and travel. Duration of Typical Work Week: 99% more than 40 hours; Work Schedules: 48% irregular (O*NET Work Context)
- Pushback from coaches, athletes and parents is a constant part of the job, especially about playing time. Conflict Situations: 26% every day, 38% once a week or more; Dealing With Unpleasant, Angry, or Discourteous People: 26% every day (O*NET Work Context)
- Communicating with coaches is nearly as central as treating injuries. Task 2, assess and report recovering athletes' progress to coaches or physicians: importance 94, Core (O*NET Tasks)
- A lot of the job happens outside in the weather. Outdoors, Exposed to All Weather Conditions: 33% every day, 52% once a week or more (O*NET Work Context)
- Paperwork is a real share of the work, not an afterthought. Task 5, record keeping and report writing: importance 86, Core; E-Mail: 73% every day (O*NET)
How people get into it
Entry now requires a master's degree from an accredited professional athletic training program, passing the Board of Certification exam, and state licensure or registration where required. Older athletic trainers often entered with a bachelor's degree, before the master's requirement. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 5.
The Firstday trial, easy to hard
Three simulated tasks with AI coworkers who message you, react to your work and coach with questions. Nobody scores you.
What the trial can't show: This trial cannot show the hands on skills: special tests on a knee or shoulder, palpating an injury, taping and bracing, spine boarding, CPR, measuring core temperature and managing a heat stroke with cold water immersion, and running rehab exercises with an athlete. It also cannot show long days on a hot field or the travel. You act as an athletic training graduate student under a certified, licensed preceptor, who signs off on every clearance.
Reading about it is one thing.
Find out how the work feels to you before you spend on a degree, course or job change. Your first trial is free.
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Job details on this page are built from O*NET OnLine, 29-9091.00. This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.