What does an athletic trainer do?
An athletic trainer is a healthcare professional who works with physicians to improve a patient's quality of life. Their profession encompasses the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of chronic medical conditions involving disabilities, functional limitations, and impairments. As an athletic trainer, you will typically do various tasks, including recognizing and evaluating injuries, providing emergency care or first aid, and developing and implementing rehabilitation programs. You are also responsible for planning and implementing programs to help prevent sports injuries among athletes.
Athletic trainer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real athletic trainer resumes:
- Administer rehabilitation procedures and the safety of athletes at practices and games including ultrasound and electrical stimulation.
- Evaluate and create a rehabilitation program for ankle sprains, fibula fractures, and shin splints.
- Administer multiple therapeutic techniques for student athletes including electrical stimulation and ultrasound
- Assist physical therapist in generating rehabilitation protocols for patients, progress exercises, order supplies for clinic and oversee aide scheduling.
- Assist with OSHA record keeping.
- Maintain cleanliness of gym and stations.
- Attend a state Medicaid DUR meeting with Dr. Olin.
- Perform audits over staff documentation to ensure notes are OSHA compliant.
- Determine use of braces or splints, refer to physicians as needed.
- Maintain the cleanliness of the trainer room and sanitize whirlpools, hydrocollators and coolers.
- Have used CPR skills in real life situations and save the life of an athlete.
- Assist with certifying local industries and school coaches in CPR providing information for emergency situations.
- Perform therapeutic procedures by administering exercises, instructing, encouraging, and assisting patients in correctly performing physical activities.
- Develop and administer rehabilitation protocols for clients to engage in progressive resistance exercises and weight loss for an overall healthy lifestyle.
- Revise drug-testing policy and administer NCAA drug testing.
Athletic trainer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Athletic Trainers are proficient in Patients, Rehabilitation, and CPR.
We break down the percentage of Athletic Trainers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 20%
Assisted physical therapist in generating rehabilitation protocols for patients, progressed exercises, ordered supplies for clinic and oversee aide scheduling.
- Rehabilitation, 19%
Designed and administered injury rehabilitation protocols.
- CPR, 12%
Managed, and taught CPR, AED, and First Aid certification classes for all athletic coaches in our district.
- Patient Care, 8%
Provided quality patient care, created and executed rehabilitation programs, and maintained proper documentation standards.
- Student Athletes, 5%
Facilitated strengthening and conditioning and drills for student athletes for game preparation.
- Athletic Injuries, 4%
Worked closely with orthopedic and family practice physicians, rehabilitation professionals and coaches to manage all aspects of athletic injuries.
Most athletic trainers use their skills in "patients," "rehabilitation," and "cpr" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential athletic trainer responsibilities here:
Compassion. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an athletic trainer to have is compassion. Their role and responsibilities require that "athletic trainers work with athletes and patients who may be in considerable pain or discomfort." Athletic trainers often use compassion in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "exhibit an excellent bedside manner by treating patients with compassion, patience, and respect while diffusing ailing and frustrated clientele. "
Detail oriented. Many athletic trainer duties rely on detail oriented. "athletic trainers must record patients’ progress accurately and ensure that they are receiving the appropriate treatments or practicing the correct fitness regimen.," so an athletic trainer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways athletic trainer responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "maintained detailed records on all rehabilitation patients. "
The three companies that hire the most athletic trainers are:
- Williamsburg KY
57 athletic trainers jobs
- ATI Physical Therapy50 athletic trainers jobs
- Athletico46 athletic trainers jobs
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Compare different athletic trainers
Athletic trainer vs. Exercise physiologist
An exercise physiologist is a health professional who analyzes the fitness of patients to help them improve their health or maintain good health. Exercise physiologists are required to help patients with heart diseases and other chronic conditions such as diabetes or pulmonary disease to regain their health. Certified exercise physiologists must administer exercise stress tests in health and unhealthy populations. They also assist both amateur and professional athletes in helping them boost their performance in sports.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between athletic trainers and exercise physiologist. For instance, athletic trainer responsibilities require skills such as "student athletes," "athletic injuries," "athletic events," and "osha." Whereas a exercise physiologist is skilled in "ekg," "acsm," "physical therapy," and "blood pressure." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Exercise physiologists tend to reach similar levels of education than athletic trainers. In fact, exercise physiologists are 3.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Athletic trainer vs. Exercise specialist
An Exercise Specialist creates exercise plans designed to improve health for clients, such as those at high risk for heart, metabolic, or lung disease. They work at health clubs, hotels, gyms, and hospitals.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that athletic trainer responsibilities requires skills like "student athletes," "athletic injuries," "athletic events," and "osha." But an exercise specialist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "customer service," "physical therapy," "blood pressure," and "acsm."
Exercise specialists earn similar levels of education than athletic trainers in general. They're 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Athletic trainer vs. Sports medicine coordinator
Physical therapists are health care professionals who diagnose and treat patients with health conditions and limited ability to move and perform daily activities. They help in restoring physical function and mobility and teach how to properly use therapeutic exercise techniques. They also help promote overall wellness and encourage healthier and more active lifestyles. They design a recovery plan unique for every patient, provide treatment and therapy to help improve and manage their condition. They provide care to all kinds of individuals, from newborns to people at the end of their life.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, an athletic trainer is likely to be skilled in "cpr," "compassion," "athletic events," and "osha," while a typical sports medicine coordinator is skilled in "physical therapy," "ekg," "drug screens," and "clerkship."
Sports medicine coordinators typically earn similar educational levels compared to athletic trainers. Specifically, they're 2.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Athletic trainer vs. Physical therapist
Even though a few skill sets overlap between athletic trainers and physical therapists, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an athletic trainer might have more use for skills like "cpr," "patient care," "student athletes," and "athletic injuries." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of physical therapists require skills like "home health," "quality care," "physical therapy," and "treatment programs. "
Physical therapists reach similar levels of education compared to athletic trainers, in general. The difference is that they're 2.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 16.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of athletic trainer
Updated January 8, 2025
