Athletic Trainers' Outcry?

Here's something that has been spreading around the interweb today:

‎..Oh.. you're a trainer?? (NO! I'm an Athletic Trainer, not a trainer) Oh, that's cool, I wanted to do that. What do you make?" "WHAT DO I MAKE?? I make an ankle sprain that some say should take four weeks to get your child back on the field, playable in a week. I can make driving in a golf cart with lights look cool. I can devise your rehab program after a total knee replacement so you can run ......in that marathon you've always dreamed of. I can tape an ankle before your kid misses 2 mins of play. I can make saving your childs life easier by explaining "getting your bell rung" isnt normal, it can be deadly. I can help you, and your child, survive a heart attack. I can look at a wrestler's pee and tell them how much water to drink. I can make an athlete bigger, faster, better. I can translate "doctorese" from "torn anterior talofibular ligament" into ankle sprain. I went to college to EARN A DEGREE in more than just "water providing" but also injury prevention, evaluation, rehabilitation, administration, and overall problem listening. And I do it because I love my athletes, and I love my profession. Today, I might ice your knee, tomorrow I might save your life. I hope I make a difference, what do you make?"

Nice. It started as something that I felt like the lay person should have a read, but being someone that likes to breeze through a lengthy piece of work I didn't make it past line 4. Reading it a little more carefully, I realized that the author of this little ditty may have embellished a little bit. Looking at a wrestler's pee and telling him whether he needs to drink more water? Sure I could tell you that over the Internet: if it's clear, you're good. Darker than syrup? Drink some water. There. Most of the stuff is actually pretty good though. I do get tired of people saying "oh I want to do that what do you make?" I hardly believe that most people that say they always wanted to do that really know what they think they are getting themselves in to. This profession is notorious for losing a lot of people to burnout and changes of heart. It requires a lot of time, sacrifice and stress for not a lot of appreciation, notice or support from parents or our government (yes I am from California so our government really doesn't care too much to give us licensure). This is not to say that there are thankful athletes and parents that will come out of the woodwork to make your day but there is a much larger group that will look down on what we do as athletic trainers to take care of your kids and will often times seek the advice of a doctor that may or may not be versed in sports medicine.

Anyway, the latter quote was one person's view of where our profession is with the general public. There's still a long way to go and I feel, to the average Joe, their view of us as waterboys and ankle tapers really hasn't changed that much. My opinion for progression in our profession is that we need to move toward re-branding ourselves instead of trying to convince everybody else that we're qualified to do what we have spent hour and years preparing to do. That's a later post though.