My good friend Melissa Sparks joined me on ATPodcast to talk about her career as an outreach athletic trainer working at J.M. Robinson High School in Concord, North Carolina.  Sparky was the 2013 NC Outreach Athletic Trainer of the Year--an accolade that is well-deserved!

Todd Hirsch is a Certified Athletic Trainer at Governor Livingston High School in Berkeley Heights, NJ.  He joined me and Pradeep for a discussion of his career and perspective on athletic training.  He talks about his upcoming NATA Webinar, "The Young Professionals Guide to Career Longevity as a Certified Athletic Trainer."

Mashup of some moments from the first 40 episodes.

Recent North Dakota State University masters graduate Mike McKenney joined me for a talk about his education and experiences working as a Certified Athletic Trainer.  He worked three years in the Colorado Springs area in a physician extender role and will be starting full time at Northeastern University in the fall.  He discusses his masters research related to muscle cramping.  Neat stuff!

Terry Noonan is Director of Athletic Training Services at University of Iowa and the first Certified Athletic Trainer I ever met.  He joined me in Las Vegas for a short chat about his education, career and experiences in athletic training.  He talks, too, about his successes utilizing Active Release Technique.

NATA Hall of Famer Matt Webber and NATA Vice President Scott Sailor join me in Las Vegas to talk about their careers and experience in athletic training.  Matt also talks about his book and website which chronicles modern athletic training throughout since 1881.  Scott also talks about the efforts to plan this largest Annual Meeting in NATA history.

Several of the Tusculum staff sit down with me to talk about their experiences in athletic training.  Tim Miesmer, Michael Hawkins, and Amy Brooks.

Watauga Orthopaedics' Dr. Marc Aiken talks about his involvement with The Masters Water Ski and Wakeboard Tournament and USA Water Ski as well as about his experiences working with Certified Athletic Trainers throughout his career.  We were joined by Kristi Overton-Johnson, a patient of Dr. Aiken and the former women's water ski slalom world record holder and Regina Jaquess, another patient of Dr. Aiken and the current world record holder.  Kristi and Regina talk about thier careers and competing around the world as well as their endeavors off the water.

www.wataugaortho.com

www.inhiswakes.com

www.reginajaquess.com

In April 2013, Tennessee became the 45th state to pass a youth concussion law.  Working in conjunction with state legislators and various medical and allied health groups for several years, Johnnie Anderson and Tim Hoskins were instrumental in getting the law passed, particularly in a format which recognizes Certified Athletic Trainers as experts in concussion management.  Tim and Johnnie join me to discuss their careers and the process by which Tennessee's concussion law came to pass.  

As mentioned in the interview, here are links to some information about the Zackery Lystedt law (on which Tennessee's is based) as well as a link to the CDC 'Heads Up' online training.

http://www.plaintiffstable.com/blog/zackery-lystedt-and-tennessees-new-youth-sports-concussion-law/

http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/HeadsUp/online_training.html

Dustin Gatens is a Certified Athletic Trainer who has been on staff at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for seven years.  He joined us for a discussion of his education and his career.  Dustin also talks at length about the multi-disciplinary team in place at NSU as well as some of the research initiatives underway there.