We Are… #AthleticTrainers

What’s in a name? A name is an artificial and meaningless convention used to identify an object, profession, or family. But it doesn’t have to define you. You can define it! Every so often (or like once a week in the athletic training circles it seems) there is a push for a name change in the athletic training profession. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association has studied this topic before, and the same answer comes time after time: no need to change the title of our profession. So why is it that some professionals seem to need to continue to harp on this concept? What is it they think they know that our organizational leaders don’t?

Instead of griping about our name, instead of comparing ourselves to other professionals (perceived as superior or inferior to ours) why don’t we be proud of our profession? Be proud of who we are? We are athletic trainers. We are responsible for the health and welfare of the athlete-patient. We are allied healthcare providers. We are ATHLETIC TRAINERS.