Students in the College of Education’s Sports Medicine Program learn how to prevent, manage, evaluate and rehabilitate athletic injuries – useful skills that National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA)President Marje Albohm touts as some of the best information students learn in their careers.
Albohm, who was the first full-time women’s athletic trainer at Indiana University and has worked in the athletic training field for more than three decades, spoke to COE faculty, staff and students on Oct. 29 about her career and the future of the field.
“I hear throughout the country how much we as athletic trainers are respected by physicians,” she said. “Athletic training skills are so transferable. You have a set of skills where you can work anywhere – colleges, universities, high schools, Cirque du Soleil, the U.S. military, Boeing Airlines, Delta, a physician’s office. So when somebody challenges your skills, you should be proud and tell them that you have the best toolbox of skills that anybody could have.”
In addition to her work at Indiana University, Albohm worked in an orthopedic practice for several years, where she hosted walk-in clinics and did outreach projects with area women’s athletic teams. She served on the medical staff and has coordinated the medical coverage for numerous national and international events, including the 1991 World Gymnastics Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
She also witnessed the introduction of Title IX, a law that required gender equity in federally-funded school programs, and the work her colleagues did to advance sports medicine as a discipline. Albohm hopes to see current sports medicine students continue that commitment to improving the athletic training field.
“Even back then, we had visionary leadership in developing women’s athletics and training,” she said. “Throughout our history, we have had strong people with strong voices standing up for what they believe is right. Carry that on for us. You need to be a strong voice in your program, in your state association and for your profession. One voice makes a difference.”
Shelley Linens, who joined the Department of Kinesiology and Health this year as an assistant professor, said she was honored to have Albohm speak to her students.
“She heard that we were an up-and-coming sports medicine program and asked if she could come speak to us,” Linens explained. “We were so excited to host her.”
For more information on the COE's Sports Medicine Program, visit http://education.gsu.edu/kin/SMD_MS_Program.htm. For more information about Albohm and NATA, visit www.nata.org