What does an assistant athletic trainer do?
An assistant athletic trainer is responsible for assisting the head athletic trainer in guiding the athletes to achieve their maximum potential and capabilities that would help them win competitions. Assistant athletic trainers handle injury circumstances and evaluate the athletes' conditions during every session and support the head trainer to mitigate injury risks by implementing training protocols and regulations. They monitor the adequacy of inventories and equipment maintenance, ensuring enough resources for training activities. An assistant athletic trainer may also perform administrative duties, such as scheduling appointments, filing medical paperwork, and coordinating with institutions for competition opportunities.
Assistant athletic trainer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real assistant athletic trainer resumes:
- Apply, manage and instruct patients on the use and care of orthopedic appliances such as splints and braces.
- Provide athletic training to all men's and women's soccer, volleyball, women's basketball, and softball teams.
- Sport responsibilities include men's and women's cross country, volleyball, women's basketball, and softball teams.
- Provide athletic training service for volleyball and women's basketball team.
- Assist with various sport coverage including football, volleyball, and wrestling.
- Assist MHMR consumers with their ADL and encourage independent behavior with formal and informal training.
- Train oncoming lifeguards with CPR, first aid, and how to perform a dive correctly.
- Assist in the implementation and/or update of policies and procedures relative to the university and NCAA guidelines.
- Assist the head athletic trainer in tending to student athlete injuries at high school football and soccer games.
- Assist with strength and conditioning for ice hockey teams, as well as softball teams to help further individual performance.
- Teach and organize class for CPR and a for the professional rescuers and health care providers to athletic training staff members.
- Certify student-athlete eligibility in compliance with prescribe NCAA requirements.
- Certify athletic trainer assisting surgeons with in-office and in-hospital treatment of orthopedic patients while attending graduate school full-time.
- Administer massage and traction to relieve pain, improve comfort levels and decrease or prevent deformity.
- Utilize modalities such as cervical traction, electrical stimulation, ultrasound, iontophoresis, moist hot packs, and cold packs.
Assistant athletic trainer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Assistant Athletic Trainers are proficient in Rehabilitation, Student Athletes, and CPR.
We break down the percentage of Assistant Athletic Trainers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Rehabilitation, 17%
Implemented/created rehabilitation programs and supervised/educated student interns and volunteers.
- Student Athletes, 13%
Performed initial and secondary evaluations on student athletes who participated in intramural sports.
- CPR, 9%
Organized classroom CPR, AED, and First Aid sessions for athletic department staff.
- NCAA, 6%
Assisted the Head Athletic Trainer with administration, management, and daily operations while working with 17 NCAA Intercollegiate Athletic Teams.
- Sports Medicine, 6%
Developed an orientation manual for certified athletic trainers joining our sports medicine team.
- Injury Prevention, 4%
Educated patients regarding injury prevention, therapeutic treatments, safe nutritional supplementation and proper eating habits.
"rehabilitation," "student athletes," and "cpr" are among the most common skills that assistant athletic trainers use at work. You can find even more assistant athletic trainer responsibilities below, including:
Compassion. One of the key soft skills for an assistant athletic trainer to have is compassion. You can see how this relates to what assistant athletic trainers do because "athletic trainers work with athletes and patients who may be in considerable pain or discomfort." Additionally, an assistant athletic trainer resume shows how assistant athletic trainers use compassion: "exhibit an excellent bedside manner by treating patients with compassion, patience, and respect while diffusing ailing and frustrated clientele. "
Detail oriented. Another essential skill to perform assistant athletic trainer duties is detail oriented. Assistant athletic trainers responsibilities require that "athletic trainers must record patients’ progress accurately and ensure that they are receiving the appropriate treatments or practicing the correct fitness regimen." Assistant athletic trainers also use detail oriented in their role according to a real resume snippet: "oversee creation and maintenance of detailed medical records for all student athletes. "
The three companies that hire the most assistant athletic trainers are:
- Twin Cities Orthopedics3 assistant athletic trainers jobs
- University of Alaska3 assistant athletic trainers jobs
- Grand Canyon University3 assistant athletic trainers jobs
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Compare different assistant athletic trainers
Assistant athletic trainer vs. Sports medicine coordinator
A trainer is responsible for instilling knowledge and process techniques for a specific business role. Duties of a trainer include facilitating engaging classes, identifying areas of improvement and opportunities for the learner, evaluating skills and attending to the learner's challenges, organizing training materials and scheduling training sessions, and submitting timely reports to the management on progress. Trainers are required to have excellent public communication skills and extensive product knowledge to provide effective learning methodologies and maintain strategic project management.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between assistant athletic trainers and sports medicine coordinator. For instance, assistant athletic trainer responsibilities require skills such as "cpr," "ncaa," "injury prevention," and "game coverage." Whereas a sports medicine coordinator is skilled in "patients," "ekg," "drug screens," and "clerkship." This is part of what separates the two careers.
On average, sports medicine coordinators reach similar levels of education than assistant athletic trainers. Sports medicine coordinators are 0.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Assistant athletic trainer vs. Trainer
A certified athletic trainer is a health and medical expert who specializes in providing health care assistance to athletes. They typically devise strategies to prevent injuries during training sessions and other activities, develop health care plans, and provide immediate care or first aid when injuries occur. There are also instances where they work together with physicians and other health care professionals, such as when diagnosing and treating injuries, developing rehabilitation structures, and administrating other health care services.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real assistant athletic trainer resumes. While assistant athletic trainer responsibilities can utilize skills like "rehabilitation," "student athletes," "ncaa," and "sports medicine," trainers use skills like "pet," "training programs," "leadership," and "bonds."
Trainers earn lower levels of education than assistant athletic trainers in general. They're 5.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant athletic trainer vs. Sports medicine trainer
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from assistant athletic trainer resumes include skills like "ncaa," "sports medicine," "game coverage," and "athletic training program," whereas a sports medicine trainer is more likely to list skills in "patient care," "dme," "football program," and "photoshop. "
Sports medicine trainers typically earn lower educational levels compared to assistant athletic trainers. Specifically, they're 5.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant athletic trainer vs. Certified athletic trainer
Types of assistant athletic trainer
Updated January 8, 2025
