As Emlyn Ngiratmab sat at her desk in McDonald Gym for a lunch break on a recent Wednesday afternoon, it didn't look like much of a break.  

Piles of papers and a binder full of teaching and rehabilitation notes laid on top the papers cluttering her desk. Through the floor-to-ceiling window, which serves as the wall between Ngiratmab's office and the athletic training room, the assistant athletic trainer could monitor the graduate assistant athletic trainers moving among six red treatment tables.  

But Ngiratmab wanted to focus on her conversation with assistant athletic trainer David Kovner. She knew the value of one-on-one attention based on her own experience as an athletic trainer.  

"One thing that took me longer to learn than I would like to admit is sometimes all you just need to do is sit and genuinely listen to [student-athletes] and really hear them out,"  Ngiratmab said. "And it does more than you realize."  

Athletic trainers spend countless hours with student-athletes in the training room, weight room, at practice, and on road trips, which makes it easy to develop a mentor-mentee relationship.  

The job also requires long, odd hours paired with little public recognition, even during March which is National Athletic Training Month. Athletic trainers always stay behind-the-scenes at athletic events, only coming into the fan's direct view during water breaks or calmly walking onto the field to evaluate a potential injury situation. 

From the outside looking in, the job seems perfect for someone who loves sports and wants to stay involved with athletics.  

But a passion for athletics is just a small piece of the job.  

Education 

Athletic trainers must be willing to learn, not just through hands-on experience, but in a formal setting. Entry-level positions require a bachelor's degree and a national certification. Most athletic trainers take a graduate assistant position and earn a master's degree in athletic training or a related field, such as health administration or nutrition.  

By 2022, all certified entry-level athletic training positions will require a master's degree in athletic training in order to take the national certification exam. Graduate assistant positions will not be a viable avenue to get into athletic training.  

This transition presents a major challenge for a school like Lamar which relies on graduate assistants to fill nine of 12 athletic training spots.  

"We would like to keep 12 athletic trainers," head athletic trainer Joshua Yonker said. "It's going to be difficult. It's not an easy process, but we're trying to make that transition to changing GAs and GA positions into full-time staff positions and seeing what we need to do moving forward." 

The formal education piece also distinguishes athletic trainers from personal trainers. Personal trainers take a certification test, but there are no formal education requirements. 

Personal trainers focus on personal fitness and help clients attain weight loss and fitness goals. Athletic trainers, who are licensed healthcare providers, get training in injury prevention, and injury assessment, evaluation and rehabilitation. They also coordinate closely with physicians regarding any medical treatments which need to be done outside the training room.   

Hands on Experience 

Like many other professionals, athletic trainers learn as much, if not more, from hands-on experience than from theoretical training. 

From the moment graduate assistant athletic trainers step onto Lamar's campus, their education is put to the test. Every student-athlete must meet with an athletic trainer for a pre-participation screening and physical. These physicals help catch pre-existing conditions which may lead to injuries. They also provide baselines for concussion protocols.  

Student-athletes with potential injury concerns meet with the athletic trainer throughout the season for preventive exercises and training. A healthy student-athlete may not meet with the trainer other than to confirm that everything is good.  

Once an injury occurs, the student-athlete must see the athletic trainer every day, sometimes multiple times per day, for rehabilitation and treatment.  

"We get some good quality time with them," Yonker said.  

When an injured student-athlete returns to play, the athletic trainer's work is not done. Athletic trainers closely monitor and help the student-athlete through the recovery process to avoid another injury.  

In some cases, the athletic trainer may determine it's unsafe for a student-athlete to return to the field or court.  

No athletic trainer wants to end a student-athlete's athletic dreams. But sometimes putting future health and well-being ahead of athletic pursuits is the best choice.  

It takes time for a student-athlete to process what happened and understand how it will affect them long-term. When everything comes together, though, it can be very rewarding.  

"The times I really think about that kind of make me stop and say this is worth it is when an athlete comes in and says 'thank you for taking the time to work with me and to help me get back to where I need to be,'" Yonker said. "Or I've had athletes come in and say, 'Thank you for telling me I shouldn't play football anymore. My quality of life in the future is more important than playing a sport right now.' For me it's that real moment from the athlete, no matter which situation it is." 

Yonker assigns athletic trainers to Lamar's sports based on the injury-risk level and the number of athletes involved in the sport.  

Football, which Yonker oversees, has three additional athletic trainers ready to work with student-athletes at any one time. Kovner and Ngiratmab work with men's and women's basketball respectively, while track has two athletic trainers, and softball, soccer, baseball and volleyball each have one. The golf and tennis programs share athletic trainers with other sports.  

For sports like tennis and golf, if an athletic trainer is not at the practice field, they must be within a 3-minute response time in case of sudden cardiac arrest or other major injury.  

Athletic trainers also travel with their respective teams and must be present for all home competitions. 

Student-athletes quickly build trust with their athletic trainers and may share things unrelated to their injury or athletic goals throughout the season. Those conversations can end up being as important as any treatment or rehabilitation.  

"When we're asking our traditional history questions of 'Have you ever hurt like this before', in the back of our mind we're also thinking about the energy the kid has if its been an up-or-down week for them," Ngiratmab said. "It is very hands-on. It is very much based on the relationships and rapport you build with the student-athletes." 

Mentor 

Athletic trainers are drawn to the profession for a variety of reasons.  

Kovner enjoyed science classes and athletics in high school and wanted to combine those into a career. Physical therapy stood out initially, but as Kovner did more research about healthcare professions, he was drawn to athletic training.  

Ngiratmab's path was not so clear cut. She started as a business major, but when she tore her ACL  playing volleyball she wound up spending a lot of time with a physical therapist. This got Ngiratmab interested in the healthcare field. Eventually Ngiratmab transferred to Sterling College, a small school in Kansas, where her business advisor, Pete Manely, also happened to be an athletic trainer.  

Ngiratmab learned about athletic training from Manely and decided she wanted to have the same impact on other people.  

Kovner also had Manely as a mentor and felt a similar pull to athletic training for one big reason - the opportunity to build relationships and mentor people while helping them achieve their athletic goals. 

"I love being at the college level specifically because of the personalities you work with on a day-to-day basis," Kovner said. "They're kids becoming adults, finding themselves. They're funny. I laugh every single day. There is never a dull moment and you build those relationships with the kids and grow as an individual yourself." 

Kovner and Ngiratmab also teach undergraduate athletic training courses. Many universities fill the teaching role with a faculty member, so Kovner and Ngiratmab have a unique opportunity to inspire future athletic trainers, just like their mentor, Manely.  

Ngiratmab also coordinates the Athletic Training Apprenticeship Program for undergraduate students. These students are provided opportunities throughout the semester to implement classroom knowledge in a controlled, clinical setting and observe the graduate assistant athletic trainers doing rehabilitations and treatments.  

Students also come to Ngiratmab for one-on-one guidance in their academic and professional pursuits.  

"With that, my door is a revolving door," Ngiratmab said.  "A lot of the students are coming in here trying to figure out life." 

Adaptable 

Even though an athletic trainer's day-to-day schedule starts at 7:30 or 8am, not much else about the schedule resembles a typical 8-to-5 job. In fact, some athletic trainers arrive at the weight room before 6 a.m. if their team pulls the early morning workout shift.  

Most student-athletes head to class right after weights. Others will stop by the athletic training room for a rehabilitation or treatment session before starting classes. For Kovner and Ngiratmab, teaching morning classes limits the times they can provide treatment and rehabilitation to student-athletes. 

By the time treatment and rehabilitation sessions wrap up at about 1pm, it's time to start preparing for afternoon practice. 

Athletic trainers prepare the field or court with everything from emergency medical equipment and rehabilitation equipment for injured student-athletes who can't practice to water coolers and cups. They also tape each student-athlete and deal with any last-minute adjustments to a student-athlete's pre-practice routine. Then, practice starts with the athletic trainer running the team through ACL prevention drills and a dynamic warm-up routine.  

Practice provides a small break from the chaos, but athletic trainers still keep a sharp eye out for potential injury concerns.  

After practice, new injury evaluations, post-practice treatments and clean up keep athletic trainers busy well past the end of practice. In some cases, teams still need to do a lifting and conditioning session.  

The day-to-day routine becomes the norm - until it's not.  

Especially when a team starts traveling.  

"Schedules change at the drop of a hat," Kovner said. "Practice time may change; travel time may change. You have to be adaptable." 

Sometimes the adaptation simply means changing a rehabilitation plan on the spot as the student-athlete recovers or feels worse. And of course, new injuries add to the continuous workload.  

The team's off-day from athletic activities just means athletic trainers do not have to prepare for practice, but usually there's an increase in rehabilitation and treatments along with off-campus trips to the doctor. 

Stepping off-campus in the evening does not necessarily mean the end of the work day. Rehabilitation and treatment notes must be electronically filed along with updated treatment plans. Kovner and Ngiratmab also grade assignments and prepare to teach the next day's class. 

Even when it's bed time, the work does not stop. 

"We're available if emergencies happen," Yonker said. "Athletes have had kidney stones and appendicitis before in the middle of the night and I've taken those phone calls." 

The work load lightens during a team's off-season, but athletic trainers are still on-call 24/7.  

Collegiate athletic trainers may also have a shortened summer, depending on their sport.  

Football has always held summer practices in June and fall camp in August. Over the last decade, the NCAA has allowed men's and women's basketball to practice during June and July while taking summer classes. Volleyball and soccer report in July and August in preparation for their fall seasons.  

 "It used to be a little bit quiet in the summer compared to the school year, and now it's pretty consistently busy year-round," Yonker said. "It's hard to get the work-life balance when it's that way." 

Work-life Balance 

Very little about an athletic trainer's day goes exactly the way it's planned. Schedules change, an unexpected injury comes in 10 minutes before practice, or a five-minute treatment turns into an hour-long, closed-door conversation about a personal crisis.  

The only constant?  

Work, and plenty of it.  

A passion for athletic training makes the job and work load seem easier. At a certain point, however, the physical and mental toll of constantly helping others can dull even the brightest spirit.  

"At the end of the day, it's that catch-22. You can't pour out to other people if you're not pouring into yourself because you have nothing to give to the people around you," Ngiratmab said. "We tend to feel guilty when we take time for ourselves because we stress thinking about the work building up. We forget that self-care essentially trickles down to make you a better healthcare professional." 

Yonker emphasizes work-life balance when interviewing graduate assistant and assistant athletic trainer candidates. He wants them to have a hobby or something outside work which will force them to unplug from the daily grind.  

Sometimes that comes in a quiet office late in the afternoon, surrounded by stacks of rehabilitation and treatment notes which need to be sorted and electronically filed. Seeing empty training tables through the window means it's time to wipe everything down and put the stools on top of the tables. 

But the work will always be there.  

A walk around campus, a mid-day workout, off-campus lunch or happy hour sushi with other athletic trainers on a Tuesday night is important. A recharged athletic trainer means student-athletes will receive the best treatment possible.  

Then the athletic trainer can step back and enjoy the best part of the whole process - watching a student-athlete return to the court or field mentally and physically stronger than when the injury occurred.  

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